Escape rooms in the EFL classroom: An action research study

This thesis investigates the implementation of gamified tasks through an educational escape room on student engagement in a 6th grade EFL Norwegian class, containing 27 students. Action research was utilized as the research method in this study, with focus on whether a gamified lesson could be implemented in an average classroom. It was also selected due to the researcher’s aspiration of reviewing and bettering their own teaching practice. Lastly, it was selected in order to conduct the study in a natural environment, with students familiar to the researcher. The study aimed to explore whether the design of glossary and grammar exercises can affect student motivation and whether implementing these exercises in a meaningful context can aid the learners in acquiring vocabulary. The study found that gamification can enhance student engagement and motivation in language learning when tasks have been carefully designed to learners’ abilities. The study highlights the importance of effective student collaboration, task design and storytelling when creating engaging lessons that align with learning objectives. This thesis aimed to contribute to the knowledge of implementing educational escape rooms, gamification and action research in a practical setting. Additionally, it intended to gain a perspective regarding actively utilizing student feedback in lesson design

The principle of combined preoperative diagnosis of thyroid tumors

The aim of the research is to increase the effectiveness of preoperative diagnosis of patients with thyroid tumors and to assess the use of cancer-embryonic antigen and immunocytochemical research. Materials and methods: Patients were interviewed about their complaints and lifestyle; performed ultrasound with fine-needle aspiration, determination of the level of cancer-embryonic antigen (CEA), cytological and immunocytochemical researches. Results: The Benign process in the thyroid gland is low serum REA (less than 0.95 ng / ml), poor expression of thyroglobulin (77.8%), negative reaction with TTF-1 (100%) and cytokeratin-19 (55.6%). Differential-prognostic markers of thyroid neoplasms with risk of malignancy include increased serum REA (0.95 ng / ml and above), the presence of a moderate reaction with antibodies to thyroglobulin (80.0%), a positive reaction — to TTF-1 (100.0%) and E-cadherin (90.0%), with moderate or strong expression of cytokeratin-19 (90.0%). Statistically significant markers of malignant thyroid disease were determined: the presence of harmful factors at work (45.5%), smoking (27.3%), elevated serum REA (0.95 ng / ml and above), the presence of strong cytoplasmic expression of thyroglobulin (63.6%), moderate or strong expression of TTF-1 (90.9%) and cytokeratin-19 (81.8%). Conclusions: The most appropriate and practically significant for preoperative diagnosis of thyroid tumors is a set of several diagnostic methods, which are carried out in one hospital – ultrasound with fine-needle aspiration, cytomorphological, and immunocytochemical and REA levels in a primary screening

Multiple Myeloma Treatment in Real-world Clinical Practice : Results of a Prospective, Multinational, Noninterventional Study

Funding Information: The authors would like to thank all patients and their families and all the EMMOS investigators for their valuable contributions to the study. The authors would like to acknowledge Robert Olie for his significant contribution to the EMMOS study. Writing support during the development of our report was provided by Laura Mulcahy and Catherine Crookes of FireKite, an Ashfield company, a part of UDG Healthcare plc, which was funded by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc, and Janssen Global Services, LLC. The EMMOS study was supported by research funding from Janssen Pharmaceutical NV and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Funding Information: The authors would like to thank all patients and their families and all the EMMOS investigators for their valuable contributions to the study. The authors would like to acknowledge Robert Olie for his significant contribution to the EMMOS study. Writing support during the development of our report was provided by Laura Mulcahy and Catherine Crookes of FireKite, an Ashfield company, a part of UDG Healthcare plc, which was funded by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc, and Janssen Global Services, LLC. The EMMOS study was supported by research funding from Janssen Pharmaceutical NV and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Funding Information: M.M. has received personal fees from Janssen, Celgene, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sanofi, Novartis, and Takeda and grants from Janssen and Sanofi during the conduct of the study. E.T. has received grants from Janssen and personal fees from Janssen and Takeda during the conduct of the study, and grants from Amgen, Celgene/Genesis, personal fees from Amgen, Celgene/Genesis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, and Glaxo-Smith Kline outside the submitted work. M.V.M. has received personal fees from Janssen, Celgene, Amgen, and Takeda outside the submitted work. M.C. reports honoraria from Janssen, outside the submitted work. M. B. reports grants from Janssen Cilag during the conduct of the study. M.D. has received honoraria for participation on advisory boards for Janssen, Celgene, Takeda, Amgen, and Novartis. H.S. has received honoraria from Janssen-Cilag, Celgene, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, and Takeda outside the submitted work. V.P. reports personal fees from Janssen during the conduct of the study and grants, personal fees, and nonfinancial support from Amgen, grants and personal fees from Sanofi, and personal fees from Takeda outside the submitted work. W.W. has received personal fees and grants from Amgen, Celgene, Novartis, Roche, Takeda, Gilead, and Janssen and nonfinancial support from Roche outside the submitted work. J.S. reports grants and nonfinancial support from Janssen Pharmaceutical during the conduct of the study. V.L. reports funding from Janssen Global Services LLC during the conduct of the study and study support from Janssen-Cilag and Pharmion outside the submitted work. A.P. reports employment and shareholding of Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) during the conduct of the study. C.C. reports employment at Janssen-Cilag during the conduct of the study. C.F. reports employment at Janssen Research and Development during the conduct of the study. F.T.B. reports employment at Janssen-Cilag during the conduct of the study. The remaining authors have stated that they have no conflicts of interest. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 The AuthorsMultiple myeloma (MM) remains an incurable disease, with little information available on its management in real-world clinical practice. The results of the present prospective, noninterventional observational study revealed great diversity in the treatment regimens used to treat MM. Our results also provide data to inform health economic, pharmacoepidemiologic, and outcomes research, providing a framework for the design of protocols to improve the outcomes of patients with MM. Background: The present prospective, multinational, noninterventional study aimed to document and describe real-world treatment regimens and disease progression in multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Patients and Methods: Adult patients initiating any new MM therapy from October 2010 to October 2012 were eligible. A multistage patient/site recruitment model was applied to minimize the selection bias; enrollment was stratified by country, region, and practice type. The patient medical and disease features, treatment history, and remission status were recorded at baseline, and prospective data on treatment, efficacy, and safety were collected electronically every 3 months. Results: A total of 2358 patients were enrolled. Of these patients, 775 and 1583 did and did not undergo stem cell transplantation (SCT) at any time during treatment, respectively. Of the patients in the SCT and non-SCT groups, 49%, 21%, 14%, and 15% and 57%, 20%, 12% and 10% were enrolled at treatment line 1, 2, 3, and ≥ 4, respectively. In the SCT and non-SCT groups, 45% and 54% of the patients had received bortezomib-based therapy without thalidomide/lenalidomide, 12% and 18% had received thalidomide/lenalidomide-based therapy without bortezomib, and 30% and 4% had received bortezomib plus thalidomide/lenalidomide-based therapy as frontline treatment, respectively. The corresponding proportions of SCT and non-SCT patients in lines 2, 3, and ≥ 4 were 45% and 37%, 30% and 37%, and 12% and 3%, 33% and 27%, 35% and 32%, and 8% and 2%, and 27% and 27%, 27% and 23%, and 6% and 4%, respectively. In the SCT and non-SCT patients, the overall response rate was 86% to 97% and 64% to 85% in line 1, 74% to 78% and 59% to 68% in line 2, 55% to 83% and 48% to 60% in line 3, and 49% to 65% and 36% and 45% in line 4, respectively, for regimens that included bortezomib and/or thalidomide/lenalidomide. Conclusion: The results of our prospective study have revealed great diversity in the treatment regimens used to manage MM in real-life practice. This diversity was linked to factors such as novel agent accessibility and evolving treatment recommendations. Our results provide insight into associated clinical benefits.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Design and Synthesis of New Models for Diiron Biosites

In order to mimic dinuclear active sites of some non-heme diiron proteins, ten new polydentate and potentially dinucleating ligands have been synthesized. Each ligand contains a carboxylate moiety designed to bridge two metal atoms. These central carboxylate moieties are derived from substituted benzoic acids that in turn are linked to terminal nitrogen or oxygen donors by spacers so that framework-type polydentate ligands similar to the polypeptide frames in diiron metallobiosites are formed. Reaction of these ligands with Fe(ClO4)3·9H2O leads to ferric μ-oxo-μ-carboxylato iron complexes of the general formulas [Fe2O(L)2(H2O)2](ClO4)2 and [Fe2O(L)(BzO)](ClO4)2 (L=ligand), containing one or two immobilized bridging carboxylates, respectively. While X-ray crystallography shows that some of these complexes are dimers or network polymers in the solid state, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESMS) and spectroscopic data (UV–Vis, NMR, Mössbauer) indicate that they dissociate to monomeric Fe2O units in dilute CH3CN solutions

Comparative Evaluation of Road Vehicle Emissions at Urban Intersections with Detailed Traffic Dynamics

The insufficient development of intelligent dynamic monitoring systems, which operate with big data, obstructs the control of traffic-related air pollution in regulated urban road networks. The study introduces mathematical models and presents a practical comparative assessment of pollutant emissions at urban intersections, with two typical modes of vehicle traffic combined, i.e., freely passing an intersection when the green signal appears and uniformly accelerated passing after a full stop at the stop line. Input data on vehicle traffic at regulated intersections were collected using real-time processing of video streams by Faster R-CNN neural network. Calculation models for different traffic flow patterns at a regulated intersection for dynamic monitoring of pollutant emissions were obtained. Statistical analysis showed a good grouping of intersections into single-type clusters and factor reduction of initial variables. Analysis will further allow us to control and minimize traffic-related emissions in urban road networks. A comparative analysis of pollutant emissions in relation to the basic speed of passing at the intersection of 30 km/h was performed according to the calculations of the mathematical models. When reducing the speed to 10 km/h (similar to a traffic jam), the amount of emissions increases 3.6 times over, and when increasing the speed to 50 km/h, the amount of emissions decreases by 2.3 times. Fuzzy logic methods allow us to make a comparative prediction of the amount of emissions when changing both the speed of traffic and the capacity of the intersection lanes. The study reveals the benefits of using a real-life measurement approach and provides the foundation for continuous monitoring and emission forecasting to control urban air quality and reduce congestion in the road network

Features of Peripheral Blood Th-Cell Subset Composition and Serum Cytokine Level in Patients with Activity-Driven Ankylosing Spondylitis

Th cells may exhibit pathological activity depending on the regulatory and functional signals sensed under a wide range of immunopathological conditions, including ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The relationship between Th cells and cytokines is important for diagnoses and for determining treatment. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Th-cell subset composition and serum cytokine profile for patients with activity-driven AS. In our study, patients were divided into two groups according to disease activity: low-activity AS (ASDAS-CRP < 2.1) and high-activity AS (ASDAS-CRP > 2.1). The peripheral blood Th cell subset composition was studied by flow cytometry. Using multiplex analysis, serum cytokine levels were quantified and investigated. It was found that only patients with high-activity AS had reduced central memory (CM) Th1 cells (p = 0.035) but elevated numbers of CM (p = 0.014) and effector memory (EM) Th2 cells (p < 0.001). However, no activity-driven change in the Th17 cell subset composition was observed in AS patients. Moreover, low-AS activity patients had increased numbers of Tfh17 EM cells (p < 0.001), whereas high-AS activity was associated with elevated Tfh2 EM level (p = 0.031). The serum cytokine profiles in AS patients demonstrated that cues stimulating cellular immunity were increased, but patients with high-AS activity reveled increased IL-5 level (p = 0.017). Analyzing the data obtained from AS patients allowed us to conclude that Th cell subset differentiation was mainly affected during the CM stage and characterized the IL-23/IL-17 regulatory axis, whereas increased humoral immunity was observed in the high-AS activity group