Speech intelligibility of the diastratic varieties of Philippine English

The rise of English globalization has prompted speech production variations that reveal the cultural and social backgrounds of the different speakers. However, intelligibility issues of the different varieties have also become a concern. Thus, the present study attempted to assess the intelligibility of Philippine English (PE) diastratic varieties’ speech recordings produced by local Cebuano speakers. Further, it aimed to specifically evaluate the speakers’ production differences, rate the intelligibility of the language varieties, and determine the effect of language variety on the listener-evaluators in terms of intelligibility and distraction ratings. Using an exploratory sequential mixed method design, the speech participants in this study were carefully chosen through multistage sampling first by social class and then by phonological variations. The three final sample speakers out of the initial eighteen were finally categorized as acrolect, mesolect, and basilect. The evaluating groups included English language users from the USA, the Philippines, Korea, and Thailand, and each group represented a region in Kachru’s concentric circle of the World Englishes model. The results identified acrolect as the most intelligible variety followed by mesolect. Basilect, on the other hand, was considered very distracting to the evaluator groups, resulting in a significantly low intelligibility score. Thai evaluators gave the lowest intelligibility ratings, which may be attributed to two factors, L1 interference and unfamiliarity of L2 variation. Finally, future directions and implications in the classroom and industry are stated to create a sense of cultural awareness and to promote a deeper intercultural understanding that comes with international intelligibility

In Vitro Chemosensitivity Using the Histoculture Drug Response Assay in Human Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

The choice of chemotherapeutic drugs to treat patients with epithelial ovarian cancer has not depended on individual patient characteristics. We have investigated the correlation between in vitro chemosensitivity, as determined by the histoculture drug response assay (HDRA), and clinical responses in epithelial ovarian cancer. Fresh tissue samples were obtained from 79 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. The sensitivity of these samples to 11 chemotherapeutic agents was tested using the HDRA method according to established methods, and we analyzed the results retrospectively. HDRA showed that they were more chemosensitive to carboplatin, topotecan and belotecan, with inhibition rates of 49.2%, 44.7%, and 39.7%, respectively, than to cisplatin, the traditional drug of choice in epithelial ovarian cancer. Among the 37 patients with FIGO stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ serous adenocarcinoma who were receiving carboplatin combined with paclitaxel, those with carboplatin-sensitive samples on HDRA had a significantly longer median disease-free interval than patients with carboplatin- resistant samples (23.2 vs. 13.8 months, p＜0.05), but median overall survival did not differ significantly (60.4 vs. 37.3 months, p＝0.621). In conclusion, this study indicates that HDRA could provide useful information for designing individual treatment strategies in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer

A diachronic study of code-switching patterns in the language of a third culture Filipino kid in Korea

Code-switching has been of immense interest in bilingualism for decades, and most previous studies present different code-switching functions in the language of bilinguals. However, a diachronic exploration of code-switching patterns in young polyglots’ production is a road less ventured. The present study follows the three-year language development of a Filipino third culture kid (living in a culture other than their parents’) in Korea from when he was 5;5 to 8;5 years old. Discourse analyses and hours of ethnographic observation through audio/video recordings expose a substantial shift of code-switching patterns across the three stages of language development. Significant changes can be observed explicitly in code-switching as referential function, addressee specification, and cross-cultural solidarity. The current investigation proposes that there is a diachronic change in the patterns of code-switching when a child’s new language develops, and the results resonate with the argument that code-switching is used for increasingly sophisticated purposes to manifest multicompetence, behavior transformation, and identity change when a certain level of communicative fluency is reached. Finally, the study provides useful insights toward a cross-cultural understanding of the dynamic interplay of code-switching and multicultural kids’ language in a pluralistic community

Accelerated System-Level Seismic Risk Assessment of Bridge Transportation Networks through Artificial Neural Network-Based Surrogate Model

Featured Application Post-hazard flow capacity of the lifeline network and recovery strategy against natural disaster. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN)-based surrogate model is proposed to evaluate the system-level seismic risk of bridge transportation networks efficiently. To estimate the performance of a network, total system travel time (TSTT) was introduced as a performance index, and an ANN-based surrogate model was incorporated to evaluate a high-dimensional network with probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) efficiently. To generate training data, the damage states of bridge components were considered as the input training data, and TSTT was selected as output data. An actual bridge transportation network in South Korea was considered as the target network, and the entire network map was reconstructed based on geographic information system data to demonstrate the proposed method. For numerical analysis, the training data were generated based on epicenter location history. By using the surrogate model, the network performance was estimated for various earthquake magnitudes at the trained epicenter with significantly-reduced computational time cost. In addition, 20 historical epicenters were adopted to confirm the robustness of the epicenter. Therefore, it was concluded that the proposed ANN-based surrogate model could be used as an alternative for efficient system-level seismic risk assessment of high-dimensional bridge transportation networks

Second Serial Transverse Enteroplasty Procedure in an Infant with Extreme Short Bowel Syndrome

The serial transverse enteroplasty (STEP) procedure is a novel technique to lengthen and taper the bowel in patients with short bowel syndrome. The advantages of STEP include not only technical ease and simplicity, but also the ability to repeat the procedure. Herein, we report a case of extreme short bowel syndrome that was successfully treated by the second STEP procedure. A 3-day old newborn girl underwent STEP because of jejunal atresia with the small bowel length of 15 cm, but her bowel elongation was not enough to escape from short bowel syndrome. At the age of 6 months, she underwent a second STEP procedure. The bowel lengthening by the second STEP made her tolerable to enteral feeding with body weight gain and rescued her from short bowel syndrome. This case showed that second STEP is very helpful in treatment of extreme short bowel syndrome

Frequency of Fabry disease in chronic kidney disease patients including patients on renal replacement therapy in Korea

Background Fabry disease (FD) is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by the deficient activity of α-galactosidase (α- Gal A), affecting multiple organs including kidney. In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of FD in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) including those on renal replacement therapy in Korea. Methods This is a national, multicenter, observational study performed between August 24, 2017 and February 28, 2020. Patients with the presence of proteinuria or treated on dialysis were screened by measuring the α-Gal A enzyme activity using either dried blood spot or whole blood, and plasma globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso-GL3) concentration. A GLA gene analysis was performed in patients with low α-Gal A enzyme activity or increased plasma lyso-GL3 concentration. Results Of 897 screened patients, 405 (45.2%) were male and 279 (31.1%) were on dialysis. The α-Gal A enzyme activity was measured in 891 patients (99.3%), and plasma lyso-GL3 concentration was measured in all patients. Ten patients were eligible for a GLA gene analysis: eight with low α-Gal A enzyme activity and two with increased plasma lyso-GL3 concentration. The GLA mutations were analyzed in nine patients and one patient was found with a pathogenic mutation. Therefore, one patient was identified with FD, giving a prevalence of 0.1% (1 of 897) in this CKD population. Conclusion Although the prevalence of FD in the CKD population was low (0.1%), screening tests are crucial to detect potential diseases in patients with relatives who can benefit from early treatment