Musical Intelligence and Foreign Language Learning

The article discusses the potential advantage that musically gifted FL learners have in developing the speaking skill, especially in acquiring some prosodic features. Empirical findings are provided to support the assumption

Lageroptimierung – ein Praxisbeispiel aus der Möbelbranche

Dieser Beitrag wurde auf Basis der Diplomarbeit der Autorin verfasst und gilt als Ergebnis eines von mehreren Projekten in der Möbelbranche in Polen, die von der Autorin im Zusammenhang mit ihrer Diplomarbeit realisiert wurden

Spontaneous use of vocabulary learning strategies

The paper argues that language learners employ learning strategies naturally. To corroborate the claim it presents a research on vocabulary learning strategies and provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the findings and concludes with some pedagogical suggestions

A persistent object manager for HEP

We propose to perform research in the area of a Persistant Object Manager for HEP. Persistant Objects are those which continue to exist upon process termination and may be accessed by other processes. It is expected that any system based upon this research will work primarily but not necessarily exclusively in an Object Oriented environment. Target applications include follow on or replacement products for existing packages such as GEANT, HEPDB, FATMEN, BHBOOK, experiment specific code event storage. In this respect, it is expected that more functionality will be required than simple persistance. It will be one of the goals of the of the project to define this extra layer of functionality. Strong emphasis will be placed on the use of standards and/or existing solutions wherever possible

Cystic fibrosis newborn screening enables diagnosis of elder siblings of recalled infants--additional benefit.

The different clinical manifestations of cystic fibrosis, with variable intensity and timing, often delay the diagnosis of this genetic autosomal recessive disorder. Many countries have introduced newborn screening for cystic fibrosis to facilitate diagnosis prior to the development of the disease. The advantages and harms of such screening programmes are regularly reassessed. In the five families presented in this article the elder siblings of screened infants were diagnosed thanks to CF NBS. This is an example of a benefit for children not even directly covered by the screening programme, adding another CF NBS advantage to the balance

Antibody-independent functions of B cells during viral infections

The humoral immune response and antibody-mediated functions of B cells during viral infections are well described. However, we have limited understanding of antibody-independent B cell functions, such as cytokine production and antigen presentation, in acute and chronic viral infections and their role in protection and/or immunopathogenesis. Here, we summarize the current literature on these antibody-independent B cell functions and identify remaining knowledge gaps. B cell subsets produce anti- and pro-inflammatory cytokines, which can have both beneficial and detrimental effects during viral clearance. As professional antigen presenting cells, B cells also play an important role in immune regulation/shaping of the developing adaptive immune responses. Since B cells primarily express TLR7 and TLR9, we specifically discuss the role of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated B cell responses to viral infections and their role in augmenting adaptive immunity through enhanced cytokine production and antigen presentation. However, viruses have evolved strategies to subvert TLR signaling and additional stimulation via B cell receptor (BCR) may be required to overcome the defective TLR response in B cells. To conclude, antibody-independent B cell functions seem to have an important role in regulating both acute and chronic viral infections and may form the basis for novel therapeutic approaches in treatment of viral infections in the future

Learning Anxiety in the Language Classroom

It has generally been acknowledged that anxiety is an affective factor that plays a significant role in any learning. A highly specific type of anxiety, foreign language classroom learning anxiety, has been distinguished and recognised as quite common among foreign language learners (Horwitz et al. 1991). The article provides some theoretical considerations related to the issue and presents findings from research on it conducted among Polish secondary school students of English. Conclusions include some practical suggestions for language teachers

Understanding immunopathology of severe dengue: lessons learnt from sepsis

Endothelial dysfunction leading to vascular permeability and plasma leakage are characteristic features of severe dengue and sepsis. However, the mechanisms underlying these immune-pathologies remain unclear. The risk of severe dengue and sepsis development depend on patient-related and pathogen-related factors. Additionally, comorbidities increase the risk of severe disease and their incidence hampers correct diagnosis and treatments. To date, there is no efficient therapy to combat severe dengue and sepsis. Here, we discuss the differences and similarities between the pathogenesis of severe dengue and that of bacterial sepsis. We identify gaps in knowledge that need to be better understood in order to move towards the rational development and/or usage of therapeutic strategies to ameliorate severe dengue disease