Children’s digital practices: case studies of children viewing and representing with dgital text

This paper reports on case studies of four primary school children and their digital practices in Hong Kong. The study explored how the participating children view and represent through digital text in the context of their out-of-school technology use. Understanding how these practices extended into their English language classrooms was explicated based on emerging data. The study results identify six aspects of emerging skills acquired by the children. These skills were not extended into the children’s schoolwork – a reflection on the emphasis on uni-modal language learning in the class setting. A detailed examination of the individual skills led to a set of recommendations for curriculum review, suitable pedagogical strategies and classroom learning resources that English Language Educators may utilize to facilitate development of viewing and representing skills through digital text.published_or_final_versio

The prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism with LMWHs and new anticoagulants

As the risk factors for thrombosis are becoming better understood, so is the need for anticoagulation. The inherent difficulties with warfarin are such that a low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) is often the key therapeutic. However, there are several different species of LMWH available to the practitioner, which leads to the need for an objective guide. New agents are coming onto the marketplace, and these may supersede both warfarin and the heparins. The current report will review the biochemistry and pharmacology of different LWMHs and identify which are more suitable for the different presentations of venous thromboembolism. It will conclude with a brief synopsis of new agents which may supersede warfarin and heparin

The opportunities and challenges of using cricket as a sport-for-development tool in Samoa

This study investigates benefits and challenges associated with the use of sport – in this case cricket – as a community development tool in Samoa. This Pacific Island nation, like others in the region, has been the focus of various development programs in the post-colonial era, with developed economy neighbours like Australia and New Zealand providing aid funding. Some of that has involved sport as a development tool, underpinned either by funding from the national government, foreign aid agencies, or a combination of both. The present paper, by focusing on a cricket for development (CFD) program in Samoa, aims to explore outcomes and limitations associated with the use of sport as a community engagement tool. The paper pursues that goal by examining the activities of relevant sport and government organisations, and – most crucially – it interviews key stakeholders involved in the CFD process in Samoa. In short, the prime purpose of this paper is to identify and interpret – from the perspective of locals – whether the CFD program has brought benefits to Samoan communities, and the challenges and limitations they see thus far. This is important because, to date, there has been an absence of qualitative inquiry into the efficacy of sport for development (SFD) programs in Samoa, and very limited research in a Pacific Islands context

Signal processing by opto-optical interactions between self-localized and free propagating beams in liquid crystals

The reorientational nonlinearity of nematic liquid crystals enables a self-localized spatial soliton and its waveguide to be deflected or destroyed by a control beam propagating across the cell. We demonstrate a simple all-optical readdressing scheme by exploiting the lens-like perturbation induced by an external beam on both a nematicon and a co-polarized guided signal of different wavelength. Angular steering as large as 2.2 degrees was obtained for control powers as low as 32mW in the near infrared

Removal of an obstruction from a tube by a collapsing bubble

The use of a collapsing bubble to clear an obstruction (in the form of a steel ball) near a tube, submerged in water, is studied with high speed photography. Tubes in horizontal and vertical configurations are studied. The bubble is generated via an electric spark discharge. The flow in the tubes resulting from the expansion of the bubble, or the high speed jet from the collapsing bubble pushes the ball away from the tubes and therefore clears the obstructions. In a case where airbacked tube is used, the bubble jets away from the tube. The resulting water plum at the hole (water-air interface) removes the blockage. The speed of the ball can be as high as 1 m/s shortly after the collapse of the bubble. Further studies are required to translate the phenomena observed to clinical applications such as the removal of blood clots in vessels or the clearing of blocked transplanted tubes..http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/84282/1/CAV2009-final98.pd

Tumour length as an independent prognostic factor in resectable oesophageal carcinoma

INTRODUCTION: Oesophageal longitudinal tumour length has been investigated as a prognostic indicator for disease recurrence and overall survival in resectable oesophageal carcinoma. However, there is conflicting evidence regarding its use in clinical practice. This study aims to assess the prognostic significance of histological tumour length in potentially curative oesophageal resections for cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with locally advanced oesophageal carcinoma (squamous or adenocarcinoma) were identified in a single centre between July 2000 and December 2016. Patient demographics, tumour characteristics and survival outcomes were assimilated. Unifactorial and multifactorial analysis was performed to assess tumour length correlation with oncological outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 281 patients were included; 226 (80.4%) male and 55 (19.6%) female, with a median age of 66 years; 39 patients (13.9%) developed local recurrence and 104 (37%) distant metastases. Disease progression rate was 44.8% with a median progression-free survival of 21 months and median overall survival of 30 months. Median tumour length was 3 cm (interquartile range 2-4.5 cm). Multivariate analysis demonstrated longer tumours to be significantly associated with a higher rate of local recurrence (p=0.028), metastases (p=0.016), disease progression (p=0.001) and shorter progression-free survival (p=0.001). DISCUSSION: This study demonstrates histological tumour length as an independent prognostic factor for local recurrence, metastases, disease progression and progression-free survival. Further larger multicentre studies are required to define the role of longitudinal tumour length as a marker to identify patients who are at higher risk of poor oncological outcomes following surgery