Modern approaches to diagnosis of sarcoidosis

The article discusses new methods for the diagnosis of sarcoidosis: transbronchial cryobiopsy of the lungs (TBKB) and the use of specific biomarkers. Three groups of patients were compared - with a diagnosis of very likely sarcoidosis, possible sarcoidosis, and unlikely sarcoidosis. All groups of patients underwent transbronchial cryobiopsy of the lungs. The results of a diagnostic study are demonstrated. Also in the article, the prospects of using highly specific biomarkers are consideredВ статье рассмотрены новые методы диагностики саркоидоза: Трансбронхиальная криобиопсия легких (ТБКБ) и использование специфичных биомаркеров. Сравнены три группы пациентов – с диагнозом очень вероятного саркоидоза, возможного саркоидоза и маловероятного саркоидоза. Всем группам пациентов была проведена трансбронхиальная криобиопсия легких. Продемонстрированы результаты диагностического исследования. Так же в статье рассмотрена перспективность использования высокоспецифичных биомаркеров

Advances in Social Media Research:Past, Present and Future

Social media comprises communication websites that facilitate relationship forming between users from diverse backgrounds, resulting in a rich social structure. User generated content encourages inquiry and decision-making. Given the relevance of social media to various stakeholders, it has received significant attention from researchers of various fields, including information systems. There exists no comprehensive review that integrates and synthesises the findings of literature on social media. This study discusses the findings of 132 papers (in selected IS journals) on social media and social networking published between 1997 and 2017. Most papers reviewed here examine the behavioural side of social media, investigate the aspect of reviews and recommendations, and study its integration for organizational purposes. Furthermore, many studies have investigated the viability of online communities/social media as a marketing medium, while others have explored various aspects of social media, including the risks associated with its use, the value that it creates, and the negative stigma attached to it within workplaces. The use of social media for information sharing during critical events as well as for seeking and/or rendering help has also been investigated in prior research. Other contexts include political and public administration, and the comparison between traditional and social media. Overall, our study identifies multiple emergent themes in the existing corpus, thereby furthering our understanding of advances in social media research. The integrated view of the extant literature that our study presents can help avoid duplication by future researchers, whilst offering fruitful lines of enquiry to help shape research for this emerging field

Inventory of current EU paediatric vision and hearing screening programmes

Background: We examined the diversity in paediatric vision and hearing screening programmes in Europe. Methods: Themes relevant for comparison of screening programmes were derived from literature and used to compile three questionnaires on vision, hearing and public-health screening. Tests used, professions involved, age and frequency of testing seem to influence sensitivity, specificity and costs most. Questionnaires were sent to ophthalmologists, orthoptists, otolaryngologists and audiologists involved in paediatric screening in all EU fullmember, candidate and associate states. Answers were cross-checked. Results: Thirty-nine countries participated; 35 have a vision screening programme, 33 a nation-wide neonatal hearing screening programme. Visual acuity (VA) is measured in 35 countries, in 71% more than once. First measurement of VA varies from three to seven years of age, but is usually before the age of five. At age three and four picture charts, including Lea Hyvarinen are used most, in children over four Tumbling-E and Snellen. As first hearing screening test otoacoustic emission (OAE) is used most in healthy neonates, and auditory brainstem response (ABR) in premature newborns. The majority of hearing testing programmes are staged; children are referred after one to four abnormal tests. Vision screening is performed mostly by paediatricians, ophthalmologists or nurses. Funding is mostly by health insurance or state. Coverage was reported as >95% in half of countries, but reporting was often not first-hand. Conclusion: Largest differences were found in VA charts used (12), professions involved in vision screening (10), number of hearing screening tests before referral (1-4) and funding sources (8)

Reading Newspaper Articles as a Motivation Tool for Students with Nonlinguistic Major

This article deals with the motives and attitudes of students with nonlinguistic major studying English as a foreign language in a higher educational institution. Nowadays, having a good command of English both oral and written is a prerequisite for a successful promotion in every field, students must learn how to communicate by means of a foreign language on a very high level. The aim of this paper is to show the efficiency of reading activities for motivating students during their studies, as well as to emphasize the relevance of reading authentic newspaper articles. Significance of the work is contained in finding and using new methods and teaching means for improvement of students’ competence in reading in a foreign language. Results of the empirical study conducted by the authors represent evaluation of authentic newspaper articles’ potential for reading comprehension in a classroom and, furthermore, demonstrate effectiveness of this method for EFL and ESL teaching. In other words, the use of authentic text materials from modern Russian and English newspapers with their adaptation and application of various types of communicative tasks before and after the process of reading has been proved to increase the motivation of students to learn English. Reading newspaper articles, therefore, has been also detected to be an effective tool for development of intercultural competences. The experimental part of the investigation was conducted in the Kazan Federal University (Russia), and consisted of a questionnaire that was filled in anonymously by various groups of students, answers to which helped to determine the popularity of reading newspapers among students

Data on gut metagenomes of the patients with alcoholic dependence syndrome and alcoholic liver cirrhosis

© 2017Alcoholism is associated with significant changes in gut microbiota composition. Metagenomic sequencing allows to assess the altered abundance levels of bacterial taxa and genes in a culture-independent way. We collected 99 stool samples from the patients with alcoholic dependence syndrome (n=72) and alcoholic liver cirrhosis (n=27). Each of the samples was surveyed using “shotgun” (whole-genome) sequencing on SOLiD platform. The reads are deposited in the ENA (project ID: PRJEB18041)