Book Review: Social and Cultural Aspects of Language Learning in Study Abroad

This paper reviews Social and Cultural Aspects of Language Learning in Study Abroad, edited by Celeste Kinginger (2013). This collection of papers showcases modern study abroad research, particularly what Coleman describes as the whole-person approach, in which study abroad participants are studied as complex individuals rather than as members of a larger homogenous group of students studying abroad. While there is a slight focus on both American study abroad participants and on learners of French studying in France, despite Kinginger and Coleman advocating for including a broader range of participant home countries and languages studied in the volume\u27s introductory chapters, the contributing authors employ a variety of methodologies to study their participants\u27 experiences and their language learning. This methodological breadth demonstrates the modern strengths of Study Abroad Research while simultaneously showing the myriad of future possibilities for future research in the field

Klinische Studie zur Beurteilung der Wirksamkeit und Verträglichkeit von Moxifloxacin im Vergleich zu Amoxicillin mit Clavulansäure zur Behandlung von tiefen Haut- und Weichteilinfektionen

Haut – und Weichteilinfektionen haben eine hohe Prävalenz in der Gesamtbevölkerung und entstehen entweder ohne Vorschädigung auf oder in gesunder Haut (Primäre: Impetigo, Zellulitis, Folliculitis, Erysipel, Furunkel und Karbunkel), als sekundäre Infektion bei bestehender Vorschädigung (Sekundär: chirurgische Wundflächen, Bisswunden, Traumata, diabetischer Fuß, Druck-, ischämische -, venöse Ulzera) oder als Exazerbation einer systemischen bakteriellen Infektion (Tertiär: Staph. aureus Endokarditis, Gonokokkämie). Während die primären Infektionen meist einen Erreger (Staphylokokken, Streptokokken) aufweisen, der sich gut mit einem herkömmlichen Antibiotikum ambulant therapieren lässt, besteht bei sekundären Infektionen die Problematik der infizierenden Mischflora aus Staphylokokken, Streptokokken, Gram- negativen Enterobakterien, Anaerobiern und Pseudomonaden auf Basis einer Grunderkrankung, die zusätzlich eine Immundefizienz, unzureichende Vaskularisation oder Stauungsproblematik aufweist. Auf diese komplizierten Haut- und Weichteilinfektionen haben wir unser Augenmerk gerichtet und mit Moxifloxacin ein neues 8 –Methoxyfluorchinolon mit breitem verbesserten antibakteriellen Spektrum gegen die altbewährte Substanz Amoxicillin + Clavulansäure getestet. Moxifloxacin zeichnet sich aus durch seine exzellente Bioverfügbarkeit und Penetration in respiratorische Gewebe und Flüssigkeiten. Es wird über die Leber, jedoch nicht über Cytochrom P 450 verstoffwechselt (keine Wechselwirkungen mit anderen Pharmaka) und es muss keine Dosisanpassung bei Niereninsuffizienz stattfinden. In mehreren klinischen Studien hat es sich als sehr gut verträglich und ohne die für Fluorchinolone bekannten Nebenwirkungen gezeigt, die klinische Effizienz wird bei CAP, AECB, Sinusitiden auf über 90 % angegeben. Unser Patientenkollektiv wurde nach akut auftretender Infektionssymptomatik mit laborchemisch belegter systemischer Beteiligung ausgewählt und in eine der beiden ungeblindeten Gruppen randomisiert, über mindestens 3 Tage mit i.v. verabreichten Antibiotika therapiert, nach klinischer Beurteilung (an Tagen 1,2,3, Woche 1, 2) frühestens am Tag 4 auf orale Therapie umgestellt, die mindestens bis Tag 7 / maximal Tag 21 fortgeführt wurde, woraufhin noch eine Nachkontrolle erfolgte. Die klinische Effektivität zeigte sich am Tag 7 bei 45 % im Vergleich zu 20 % bei Amoxiclav. Mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit lässt sich eine statistische Äquivalenz der beiden Substanzen annehmen mit Tendenzen zur Überlegenheit Moxifloxacins, die mit größeren Fallzahlen signifikant nachgewiesen werden muss. Die Eradikation der Keime erfolgte schneller und es zeigten sich deutlich weniger Resistenzen. Die Patienten zeigten einen prompten Rückgang (Tag 3) der lokalen und systemischen Entzündungszeichen bei subjektiv beschriebenem Wohlbefinden. 82 % der Moxifloxacin- Patienten erhielten ausschließlich Moxifloxacin (Amoxiclav 22%), konnten schnell auf orale Therapie umgestellt werden (4 Tage gegen 7 Tage), wurden wesentlich kürzer therapiert (17 zu 32 Tage) und auch hospitalisiert ( 15 zu 19 Tage). Chirurgische Eingriffe fanden in beiden Gruppen zu gleichen Teilen statt (40%), Osteomyelitis fand sich als häufigste „schwere Nebenwirkung“ bei Moxifloxacin, während bei Amoxiclav die nosokomialen Infektionen dominierten. An Diagnostik und therapeutischen Verfahren wurden in der Amoxiclavgruppe deutlich mehr invasive Verfahren notwendig. Neben vereinzelter gastrointestinaler Symptome und grippaler Symptomatik fanden sich in beiden Gruppen keine bemerkenswerten unerwünschten Wirkungen. Abschließend kann man sagen, dass wir Moxifloxacin als gut verträgliches, schnell und zuverlässig wirksames Monotherapeutikum bei tiefen Haut- und Weichteilinfektionen beurteilen konnten

Analysis and results of the industrial production of the superconducting Nb/Cu cavities for the LEP2 project

For the energy upgrade of the Large Electron Positron Collider at CERN 216 RF superconducting cavities were ordered from three European industrial firms (Ansaldo, Cerca, Siemens/Accel) at the beginning of 1991. These cavities are made of copper (Cu), internally coated with niobium (Nb) according to a procedure developed at CERN. Up to now about 147 of these cavities fulfilling the specifications have been produced. The large-scale statistics available and the use of dedicated analytical and optical inspection techniques shed new light on the relationship between production procedures, niobium film properties and cavity performance. An overview of this subject is presented, together with some significant trends and results

Mid-J CO Emission in Nearby Seyfert Galaxies

We study for the first time the complete sub-millimeter spectra (450 GHz to 1550 GHz) of a sample of nearby active galaxies observed with the SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer (SPIRE/FTS) onboard Herschel. The CO ladder (from Jup = 4 to 12) is the most prominent spectral feature in this range. These CO lines probe warm molecular gas that can be heated by ultraviolet photons, shocks, or X-rays originated in the active galactic nucleus or in young star-forming regions. In these proceedings we investigate the physical origin of the CO emission using the averaged CO spectral line energy distribution (SLED) of six Seyfert galaxies. We use a radiative transfer model assuming an isothermal homogeneous medium to estimate the molecular gas conditions. We also compare this CO SLED with the predictions of photon and X-ray dominated region (PDR and XDR) models.Comment: Proceedings of the Torus Workshop 2012 held at the University of Texas at San Antonio, 5-7 December 2012. C. Packham, R. Mason, and A. Alonso-Herrero (eds.); 6 pages, 3 figure

Steering the Field Quality in the Production of the Main Quadrupoles of the Large Hadron Collider

The main issues concerning the field quality in the main quadrupoles of the Large Hadron Collider are presented. We show the trend plots for the focusing strength and multipoles at room temperature covering more than 2/3 of the production. We describe the correction of the coil layout to improve b6 at injection field level. A non-negligible fraction of the quadrupoles has been manufactured with collars featuring a magnetic permeability somewhat higher than the specified limits. We show plots for this anomaly. Field quality correlations to measurements in operational conditions are discussed. The dependence of field quality on cable manufacturer is analyse

The Bending Magnets for the Proton Transfer Line of CNGS

The project "CERN neutrinos to Gran Sasso (CNGS)", a collaboration between CERN and the INFN (Gran Sasso Laboratory) in Italy, will study neutrino oscillations in a long base-line experiment. High-energy protons will be extracted from the CERN SPS accelerator, transported through a 727 m long transfer line and focused onto a graphite target to produce a beam of pions and kaons and subsequently neutrinos. The transfer line requires a total of 78 dipole magnets. They were produced in the framework of an in-kind contribution of Germany via DESY to the CNGS project. The normal conducting dipoles, built from laminated steel cores and copper coils, have a core length of 6.3 m, a 37 mm gap height and a nominal field range of 1.38 T - 1.91 T at a maximum current of 4950 A. The magnet design was a collaboration between CERN and BINP. The half-core production was subcontracted to EFREMOV Institute; the coil fabrication, magnet assembly and the field measurements were concluded at BINP in June 2004. The main design issues and results of the acceptance tests, including mechanical, electrical and magnetic field measurements, are discussed

Insights into gas heating and cooling in the disc of NGC 891 from Herschel far-infrared spectroscopy

We present Herschel PACS and SPIRE spectroscopy of the most important far-infrared cooling lines in the nearby edge-on spiral galaxy, NGC 891: [CII] 158 $\mu$m, [NII] 122, 205 $\mu$m, [OI] 63, 145 $\mu$m, and [OIII] 88 $\mu$m. We find that the photoelectric heating efficiency of the gas, traced via the ([CII]+[OII]63)/$F_{\mathrm{TIR}}$ ratio, varies from a mean of 3.5$\times$10$^{-3}$ in the centre up to 8$\times$10$^{-3}$ at increasing radial and vertical distances in the disc. A decrease in ([CII]+[OII]63)/$F_{\mathrm{TIR}}$ but constant ([CII]+[OI]63)/$F_{\mathrm{PAH}}$ with increasing FIR colour suggests that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) may become important for gas heating in the central regions. We compare the observed flux of the FIR cooling lines and total IR emission with the predicted flux from a PDR model to determine the gas density, surface temperature and the strength of the incident far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation field, $G_{0}$. Resolving details on physical scales of ~0.6 kpc, a pixel-by-pixel analysis reveals that the majority of the PDRs in NGC 891's disc have hydrogen densities of 1 < log ($n$/cm$^{-3}$) < 3.5 experiencing an incident FUV radiation field with strengths of 1.7 < log $G_0$ < 3. Although these values we derive for most of the disc are consistent with the gas properties found in PDRs in the spiral arms and inter-arm regions of M51, observed radial trends in $n$ and $G_0$ are shown to be sensitive to varying optical thickness in the lines, demonstrating the importance of accurately accounting for optical depth effects when interpreting observations of high inclination systems. With an empirical relationship between the MIPS 24 $\mu$m and [NII] 205 $\mu$m emission, we estimate an enhancement of the FUV radiation field strength in the far north-eastern side of the disc.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 25 pages, including 17 figures and 3 tables, abstract abridged for arXi

Measurement of Spin Correlation Parameters ANN_{NN}, ASS_{SS}, and A_SL{SL} at 2.1 GeV in Proton-Proton Elastic Scattering

At the Cooler Synchrotron COSY/J\"ulich spin correlation parameters in elastic proton-proton (pp) scattering have been measured with a 2.11 GeV polarized proton beam and a polarized hydrogen atomic beam target. We report results for A$_{NN}$, A$_{SS}$, and A_${SL}$ for c.m. scattering angles between 30$^o$ and 90$^o$. Our data on A$_{SS}$ -- the first measurement of this observable above 800 MeV -- clearly disagrees with predictions of available of pp scattering phase shift solutions while A$_{NN}$ and A_${SL}$ are reproduced reasonably well. We show that in the direct reconstruction of the scattering amplitudes from the body of available pp elastic scattering data at 2.1 GeV the number of possible solutions is considerably reduced.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Stimulation programs for pediatric drug research – do children really benefit?

Most drugs that are currently prescribed in pediatrics have not been tested in children. Pediatric drug studies are stimulated in the USA by the pediatric exclusivity provision under the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act (FDAMA) that grants patent extensions when pediatric labeling is provided. We investigated the effectiveness of these programs in stimulating drug research in children, thereby increasing the evidence for safe and effective drug use in the pediatric population. All drugs granted pediatric exclusivity under the FDAMA were analyzed by studying the relevant summaries of medical and clinical pharmacology reviews of the pediatric studies or, if these were unavailable, the labeling information as provided by the manufacturer. A systematic search of the literature was performed to identify drug utilization patterns in children. From July 1998 to August 2006, 135 drug entities were granted pediatric exclusivity. Most frequent drug groups were anti-depressants and mood stabilizers, ACE inhibitors, lipid-lowering preparations, HIV antivirals, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic drugs. The distribution of the different drugs closely matched the distribution of these drugs over the adult market, and not the drug utilization by children