Linguistic diversity and the politics of international inclusion in higher education: A critical sociolinguistic study international teaching assistants

Institutions of higher education (HEIs) in the United States recruit numerous international graduate students, many of whom serve as teaching assistants. HEIs’ motivations for employing international teaching assistants (ITAs) include not only economic incentives but also humanistic aims of internationalization, for example, increasing cross-cultural cooperation. However, integrating ITAs into the institution, making them welcomed and respected members of the community, has proven difficult. In particular, problems in ITA-student communication have been reported for decades. I argue that the crux of these integration difficulties lies in how linguistic diversity is approached. Policymakers and researchers usually treat ITAs’ Englishes as the cause of communication difficulties, with the implication that ITAs should more closely conform to norms of ‘native’ English. I propose instead that the primary problem is not linguistic diversity itself but ideological perceptions of other Englishes and unproductive responses to the difficulties that arise in trying to communicate across linguistic difference. This study examined policies and perceptions related to ITA-student communication at one internationalizing university through document collection, interviews, and classroom observation. I found that, despite its strategic plan calling for preparing students to enter a globalizing world, the institution’s response to ITA-student communication difficulties targets only ITAs’ competencies, mainly by assessing and remediating their language proficiency. Discussions with students and observations of classroom interaction revealed that many students appeared to orient to communication with ITAs in ways that did not help promote successful communication or prepare them to communicate across linguistic difference in a globalizing world. I also found that available ideological stances and strategies for addressing linguistic difference made it difficult for ITAs to be simultaneously liked and respected as instructors. This study has implications for HEIs seeking to create internationally inclusive communities and prepare their students and other stakeholders for communication across linguistic difference. First, ITA preparation should be reframed so as not to stigmatize ITAs’ Englishes. It should also prepare ITAs to become active agents in socializing students into productive and respectful orientations to linguistic difference. Second, HEIs must more comprehensively seek to confront students’ deficit language ideologies and unproductive responses to communication difficulties

Analysis of Financial Losses due to Poor Adherence of Patients with Chronic Diseases and Their Impact on Health Economics

Pharmaceutical drugs—prescription drugs, not over-the-counter drugs—have prices that are negotiated between pharmaceutical companies and National Ministry of Health or national agency for medicines or national health insurers in every country. Prescription drug expenditures have increased every country’s healthcare costs. Medication adherence (defined as not obtained refills of prescriptions or suboptimal dosing of prescribed drugs) is a growing concern to physicians and healthcare systems because of the multiple evidence of noncompliance among patients and correlated adverse outcomes. A patient is considered adherent if he/she takes 80% of his/her prescribed medicine(s). Different studies showed that patients do not take their prescribed medicines about half the time. Financial losses due to poor adherence are the result of unnecessary time-consuming work and costs for potential harm to patients. Hospitalization rates are reduced at higher levels of medication adherence. There are two types of financial losses due to poor treatment adherence: medical costs (measured by hospitalization risk) and drugs costs (without patient copayments). This financial loss analysis underlines the promotion of medication adherence by the patients

The Biological as a Double Limit for Artificial Intelligence: Review and Futuristic Debate

This paper aims to identify to what extent artificial intelligence (AI) is biologically limited and to launch a debate on the issue of overcoming these limitations. To achieve our goal, we utilized a qualitative research methodology framework, providing an in-depth analysis of AI limitations formulated by prominent scholars within this field of specialization. We found that the biological boundary imposes a double limitation on AI, both from a gnoseological perspective and from a technological perspective. This twofold limitation of AI underpins the idea that as long as the biological cannot be understood, formalized, and imitated, we will not be able to develop technologies that mimic it. By adopting an original approach, our research paper focused on mapping out the twofold limitation of the biological with reference to the success of AI. Special attention was paid to the motivational analysis of this limitation in terms of human existence, the opportunity and utility to create artificial intelligences as superior to the human-like condition. We have opened the door for future debates on the need to decode cellular communication by understanding and developing a natural language of the living cell (N2LC). Based on the present research, we proposed that within the current technological context, biological computers (biocomputing) could represent a so-called invisible hand outstretched by biological systems towards AI

Personal Autonomy as Quality of Life Predictor for Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, severe disease, characterized by a progressive alteration in neuronal transmission, which decreases personal independence and quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to investigate the relationship between QoL and personal autonomy in patients with MS, as well as its correlation with age, educational level, and diseases severity. Twenty-six MS patients were followed-up for six months. All patients completed the 15D questionnaire two times: at T0, when they started a new treatment, and at T1 after six months of treatment. At the end point, all patients completed the Personal Autonomy Questionnaire. The average patient age was 43 years (SD = 10), and 89% of them were female. The mean severity and duration of MS were 3.5 (SD = 1.75) and 9.5 (SD = 5.1), respectively. The average QoL of MS patients at T0 was 0.66 (SD = 0.18), and that at T1 was 0.71 (SD = 0.16). The scores of patients with different types of MS, i.e., relapsing–remitting MS (RRMS) or secondary progressive MS (SPMS), were compared. SPMS patients were older than RRMS patients (mean age 47.5 vs. 39.7 years; p = 0.032), and more RRMS patients were working (0.014). SPMS patients described the same QoL and personal autonomy as RRMS patients. Results from bivariate correlation analyses showed a significant relationship between QoL and age, education, and severity of MS. Also, the analysis showed no significant correlation between QoL and personal autonomy

Personal Autonomy as Quality of Life Predictor for Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, severe disease, characterized by a progressive alteration in neuronal transmission, which decreases personal independence and quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to investigate the relationship between QoL and personal autonomy in patients with MS, as well as its correlation with age, educational level, and diseases severity. Twenty-six MS patients were followed-up for six months. All patients completed the 15D questionnaire two times: at T0, when they started a new treatment, and at T1 after six months of treatment. At the end point, all patients completed the Personal Autonomy Questionnaire. The average patient age was 43 years (SD = 10), and 89% of them were female. The mean severity and duration of MS were 3.5 (SD = 1.75) and 9.5 (SD = 5.1), respectively. The average QoL of MS patients at T0 was 0.66 (SD = 0.18), and that at T1 was 0.71 (SD = 0.16). The scores of patients with different types of MS, i.e., relapsing–remitting MS (RRMS) or secondary progressive MS (SPMS), were compared. SPMS patients were older than RRMS patients (mean age 47.5 vs. 39.7 years; p = 0.032), and more RRMS patients were working (0.014). SPMS patients described the same QoL and personal autonomy as RRMS patients. Results from bivariate correlation analyses showed a significant relationship between QoL and age, education, and severity of MS. Also, the analysis showed no significant correlation between QoL and personal autonomy

The Role of FDG-PET in the Evaluation of Hidradenitis Suppurativa: A Systematic Review

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic skin disorder characterized by nodules, comedones, and sinus tracts that often leave prominent scarring. In recent years, non-invasive imaging techniques have been used to assess the inflammatory activity, vascularization, and treatment response of lesions. Specifically, fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) scans may aid in identifying systemic inflammation in patients with HS, improving diagnosis. Inflamed hypermetabolic tissues exhibit a greater uptake of FDG due to increased glucose uptake and vascularity. A systematic review was conducted to summarize the utility of nuclear imaging techniques in the diagnosis and treatment follow-up of HS. PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect databases were utilized for relevant articles discussing the utility of PET scans in managing HS. A total of 51 citations were identified in the initial search. Following the review of titles, abstracts, and duplicates, 43 articles were excluded, leaving a total of eight articles for analysis. Data were extracted from each article, encompassing the number of patients, imaging techniques employed, and final results. An analysis of the data demonstrated that FDG-PET showed evidence of identifying subclinical lesions of the disease, improving the visualization of HS, and providing an objective method of assessing severity

Digging in real-word electronic database for assessing CDK 4/6 inhibitors adherence in breast cancer patients from Romania

Introduction: It is imperative for patients to respect the prescribed treatments to achieve the anticipated clinical outcomes, including the outpatients receiving oral anti-cancer drugs such as selective cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors (CDK 4/6i). With the introduction of three CDK 4/6i drugs in the Romanian pharmaceutical market in 2018, our study aimed to evaluate medication adherence and the influencing factors among patients undergoing treatment with palbociclib, ribociclib, or abemaciclib for advanced or metastatic breast cancer.Methods: Medication adherence was assessed using the Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) method, and Spearman correlation analysis was conducted to explore the relationships between adherence, age, gender, and follow-up duration.Results: The study enrolled 330 breast cancer patients, with an average follow-up period of 14.6 ± 12.5 months for palbociclib, 10.6 ± 7.1 months for ribociclib, and 8.6 ± 6.4 months for abemaciclib-treated patients. A small proportion of patients demonstrated non-adherence: 12.8% for palbociclib, 14.6% for ribociclib, and 14.7% for abemaciclib. Among patients receiving palbociclib, there was no significant correlation between adherence, age (rho = 0.07, p = 0.35), or gender (rho = −0.144, p = 0.054). However, a significant correlation was found with the duration of follow-up (rho = −0.304, p < 0.0001). Similar results were observed for patients receiving ribociclib or abemaciclib. Most patients received combination therapy with letrozole (46%) and exemestane (13%) for palbociclib, letrozole (48%) and fulvestrant (19%) for ribociclib, and fulvestrant (39%) and letrozole (27%) for abemaciclib,Discussion: High adherence rates were observed among patients treated with CDK 4/6i drugs, with no significant differences noted among the three drugs in this class. However, the collected patient data was limited, lacking information on adverse reactions that could potentially lead to treatment discontinuation, as determined by the oncologist’s decision not to prescribe. Consequently, a comprehensive understanding of all factors contributing to the low adherence levels is hindered

'Riots engulfed the city':an experimental study investigating the legitimating effects of fire metaphors in discourses of disorder

In Cognitive Linguistic Critical Discourse Studies (CL-CDS), metaphor is identified as a key index of ideology and an important device in the legitimation of social action. From this perspective, metaphor is a cognitive-semiotic operation, invoked by metaphorical expressions in discourse, in which a source frame is mobilised to provide a template for sense-making inside a target frame, leading to particular framing effects. However, the extent to which metaphors in discourse genuinely activate an alternative frame and thereby achieve framing effects has recently been subject to question. Amid calls for more empirical forms of analysis in Critical Discourse Studies, the paper reports two experiments testing the legitimating framing effects of fire metaphors in discourses of disorder. Results show that images of fire and fire metaphors in the absence of competing images facilitate support for police use of water cannon in response to social unrest. The study not only justifies attention to metaphor in CL-CDS but similar effects across semiotic modalities are interpreted as evidence in support of simulation-based theories of metaphor