Do real books help the learning of english in P4?

The purpose of this study is to answer the principal question, Do Real Books help the learning of English in P4?, and create a useful document to English teachers in Infant Education that are interested in working through stories. Previous to the development of the work, it has been necessary a research work and a theoretical documentation, performed using a literature review. This process has served to establish the basis of the study and to develop the subsequent didactic intervention. This second part of the study, the didactic intervention, contains all the information about how it was planned, carried to term and evaluated. There are three different ‘real books’ used as a reference in which the reader can see how to choose the correct story, how to adapt the text to the children, the daily planning, and how to evaluate the activities.

La place des registres dans la surveillance des maladies transmissibles. [The role of registries in the surveillance of transmissible diseases].

Registries are among the oldest methods used in public health for epidemiological surveillance and decision making in the area of communicable diseases. Although other sources of data are now available in many developed countries, registries still provide important information. This article reviews the main aims and characteristics of modern registries, providing several examples of current epidemiological problems. Practical advantages and disadvantages of registries are also discussed, as well as some developmental perspectives in this area.

IL-12-mediated STAT4 signaling and TCR signal strength cooperate in the induction of CD40L in human and mouse CD8(+) T cells.

CD40L is one of the key molecules bridging the activation of specific T cells and the maturation of professional and nonprofessional antigen-presenting cells including B cells. CD4(+) T cells have been regarded as the major T-cell subset that expresses CD40L upon cognate activation; however, we demonstrate here that a putative CD8(+) helper T-cell subset expressing CD40L is induced in human and murine CD8(+) T cells in vitro and in mice immunized with antigen-pulsed dendritic cells. IL-12 and STAT4-mediated signaling was the major instructive cytokine signal boosting the ability of CD8(+) T cells to express CD40L both in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, TCR signaling strength modulated CD40L expression in CD8(+) T cells after primary differentiation in vitro as well as in vivo. The induction of CD40L in CD8(+) T cells regulated by IL-12 and TCR signaling may enable CD8(+) T cells to respond autonomously of CD4(+) T cells. Thus, we propose that under proinflammatory conditions, a self-sustaining positive feedback loop could facilitate the efficient priming of T cells stimulated by high affinity peptide displaying APCs.

Connecting India: The rise of standards in service offshoring

This paper explores the role of international standards in the globalisation of the service economy. Various strands of economic analyses consider that core attributes of services affect their ability to be reliably delocalised, industrialised and standardised. In contrast, international political economy (IPE) approaches draw attention to power configurations supporting conflicting use of standards across industries and nations. The paper examines the case of the Indian service industry in business process outsourcing to probe these opposing views. Our findings suggest that standards matter in types of services conventionally identified as unlikely to be standardised, and that their use raise little conflict. An IPE perspective on service standardisation highlights, however, the importance of potential power issues likely to be included in more progressive forms of standardisation

The role of imaging in acute ischemic stroke.

Neuroimaging has expanded beyond its traditional diagnostic role and become a critical tool in the evaluation and management of stroke. The objectives of imaging include prompt accurate diagnosis, treatment triage, prognosis prediction, and secondary preventative precautions. While capitalizing on the latest treatment options and expanding upon the "time is brain" doctrine, the ultimate goal of imaging is to maximize the number of treated patients and improve the outcome of one the most costly and morbid disease. A broad overview of comprehensive multimodal stroke imaging is presented here to affirm its utilization.

The Role of Magnesium in Concrete Deterioration, HR-355, Appendix, 1994

In the main report concerning the role that magnesium may have in highway concrete aggregate, over 20,000 electron microprobe data were obtained, primarily from automated scans, or traverses, across dolomite aggregate grains and the adjacent cement paste. Representative traverses were shown in figures and averages of the data were presented in Table II. In this Appendix, detailed representative and selected analyses of carbonate aggregate only are presented. These analyses were not presented in the main report because they would be interesting to only a few specialists in dolomite· rocks. In this Appendix, individual point analyses of mineral compositions in the paste have been omitted along with dolomite compositions at grain boundaries and cracks. Clay minerals and quartz inclusions in the aggregate are also not included. In the analyses, the first three column headings from left to right show line number, x-axis, and y-axis (Line number is an artifact of the computer print-out for each new traverse. Consecutive line numbers indicate a continuous traverse with distances between each point of 1.5 to a few μ-m. X-axis and y-axis are coordinates on the electron microscope stage). The next columns present weight percent oxide content of FeO, K20, CaO, Si02, Al203, MgO, SrO, BaO, MnO, Na20, and C02 (calculated assuming the number of moles of C02 is equal to the sum of moles of oxides, chiefly CaO and MgO), TOTAL (the sum of all oxides), and total (sum of all oxides excluding COi). In many of the analyses total is omitted.

Place de l'aspirine en prévention primaire des maladies cardiovasculaires [The role of aspirin in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease]

For persons without cardiovascular disease, the benefit of aspirin in primary prevention has been controversial until the recent publication of several major randomized controlled trials. Since then, several medical societies recommend that clinicians discuss aspirin prevention with adults at high cardiovascular risk. Patients with low cardiovascular risk are unlikely to benefit from aspirin, as potential harms (hemorrhagic strokes, gastrointestinal bleedings) may outweigh benefits. Aspirin should be recommended in primary prevention only in patients with a 10-year cardiovascular risk > or = 10% or in diabetic patients aged > or = 40 years with a concomitant cardiovascular risk factor, after assessing contraindications for aspirin and individual's preferences for the risks and benefits associated with aspirin.

Intravitreous injection of PLGA microspheres encapsulating GDNF promotes the survival of photoreceptors in the rd1/rd1 mouse.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the potential delay of the retinal degeneration in rd1/rd1 mice using recombinant human glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (rhGDNF) encapsulated in poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microspheres. METHODS: rhGDNF-loaded PLGA microspheres were prepared using a water in oil in water (w/o/w) emulsion solvent extraction-evaporation process. In vitro, the rhGDNF release profile was assessed using radiolabeled factor. In vivo, rhGDNF microspheres, blank microspheres, or microspheres loaded with inactivated rhGDNF were injected into the vitreous of rd1/rd1 mice at postnatal day 11 (PN11). The extent of retinal degeneration was examined at PN28 using rhodopsin immunohistochemistry on whole flat-mount retinas, outer nuclear layer (ONL) cell counting on histology sections, and electroretinogram tracings. Immunohistochemical reactions for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), F4/80, and rhodopsin were performed on cryosections. RESULTS: Significant delay of rod photoreceptors degeneration was observed in mice receiving the rhGDNF-loaded microspheres compared to either untreated mice or to mice receiving blank or inactivated rhGDNF microspheres. The degeneration delay in the eyes receiving the rhGDNF microspheres was illustrated by the increased rhodopsin positive signals, the preservation of significantly higher number of cell nuclei within the ONL, and significant b-wave increase. A reduction of the subretinal glial proliferation was also observed in these treated eyes. No significant intraocular inflammatory reaction was observed after the intravitreous injection of the various microspheres. CONCLUSIONS: A single intravitreous injection of rhGDNF-loaded microspheres slows the retinal degeneration processes in rd1/rd1 mice. The use of injectable, biodegradable polymeric systems in the vitreous enables the efficient delivery of therapeutic proteins for the treatment of retinal diseases.

The importance of myth in contemporary art: myth, poetry and women

This project is intended to prove the prevalent importance of myth in contemporary art and, more specifically, to highlight how myth and poetry have shaped and reflected ideas of womanhood over time. A selection of significant literary periods, authors and works from the Renaissance to our days have been chosen in order to provide a wide scope of the evolution that the portrayal of women has undergone. Special attention has been paid to the way in which a group of selected poets have contributed to the construction and deconstruction of traditional Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman myths strongly attached to patterns of male dominance.

The impact of insight in a first-episode mania with psychosis population on outcome at 18 months.

BACKGROUND: To explore whether poor initial insight during a first episode of mania with psychotic features was predictive of poor psychosocial and clinical outcomes at 18 months. METHODS: Secondary analysis was performed on data collected during an 8-week RCT comparing the efficacy of olanzapine versus chlorpromazine as an adjunct to lithium, and at 18-month follow-up. 74 participants were divided into three groups (no insight, partial insight, and full insight) according to the insight item from the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS). Differences between these three groups were examined at baseline and at 18 months on measures of symptoms (YMRS, HAMD-21, and CGI-S), and social and occupational functioning (SOFAS). Baseline differences between the three groups were determined using general linear models and chi-squared analyses. Group differences from baseline to 18-month follow-up were determined using repeated measures general linear models. RESULTS: At baseline there were significant differences between the three insight groups in terms of mania and functioning, but at 18 months all groups had improved significantly in terms of psychopathology, mania, depression and social and occupational functioning. There were no significant differences between the three groups at study completion with respect to these domains. LIMITATIONS: The study was limited by the lack of availability of a more detailed rating scale for insight, and it did not account for the duration of untreated psychosis (DUI). CONCLUSIONS: Poor initial insight during a first episode of mania with psychotic features does not predict poor clinical and psychosocial outcome at 18 months.

The role of teriparatide in sequential and combination therapy of osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is complicated by the occurrence of fragility fractures. Over past years, various treatment options have become available, mostly potent antiresorptive agents such as bisphosphonates and denosumab. However, antiresorptive therapy cannot fully and rapidly restore bone mass and structure that has been lost because of increased remodelling. Alternatively recombinant human parathyroid hormone (rhPTH) analogues do increase the formation of new bone material. The bone formation stimulated by intermittent PTH analogues not only increases bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mass but also improves the microarchitecture of the skeleton, thereby reducing incidence of vertebral and nonvertebral fractures. Teriparatide, a recombinant human PTH fragment available in Switzerland, is reimbursed as second-line treatment in postmenopausal women and men with increased fracture risk, specifically in patients with incident fractures under antiresorptive therapy or patients with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis and intolerance to antiresorptives. This position paper focuses on practical aspects in the management of patients on teriparatide treatment. Potential first-line indications for osteoanabolic treatment as well as the benefits and limitations of sequential and combination therapy with antiresorptive drugs are discussed.

The positioning of colectomy in the treatment of ulcerative colitis in the era of biologic therapy.

The position of surgery in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) has changed in the era of biologics. Several important questions arise in determining the optimal positioning of surgery in the treatment of UC, which has long been a challenge facing gastroenterologists and surgeons. Surgery is life-saving in some patients and leads to better bowel function and better quality of life in most patients. The benefits of surgery, however, must be weighed against the potential surgical morbidity and compromised functioning that clearly can occur. The introduction of biologic therapy has added further complexity to decisions about medical management, surgery, and the relative timing of these choices. Appropriate medical management of UC may induce and maintain remission and may prevent surgery. However, medical management also carries risks of adverse effects, and recent data suggest that delay of surgery during ineffective medical therapy can increase the chances of negative surgical outcomes. To make individualized timely treatment decisions, early collaboration between gastroenterologists and surgeons is important and more data on predictors of treatment response and positive outcomes are needed. Early identification of patients who would benefit from biologic therapy or surgery is challenging.

The Europeanisation of the measurement of diversity in education: a soft instrument of public policy

Faced with an increasing number of data and rankings, the author questions the roles of the different groups of actors who were originally involved in questioning the use of statistical indicators as a means of addressing issues of access to higher education. The comparison and nature of these international (UNESCO, OECD, EUROSTAT) and national (Germany, England, France, Switzerland) indicators in matters of inequalities of access to higher education question the tension between the discourses and the indicators they generate, and their recording at the national level. Who says what and with what consequences? What range of actors are involved in this process? What kind of power relations forms them? The author discusses how the issue of inequalities of access to higher education got on to the agendas of European organisations, identifies the policies that were defined, and sets them against an array of indicators, showing the discrepancy between the discourses and what the indicators reveal, the gap between the recommendations and the available tools. Why is there such a contrast? What are the mechanisms at work? Is it a technical or a political problem? What does this discrepancy reveal as far as national specificities within the construction of social inequalities are concerned?

Cadmium-free quantum dots in aqueous solution: potential for fingermark detection, synthesis and an application to the detection of fingermarks in blood on non-porous surfaces

The use of quantum dots (QDs) in the area of fingermark detection is currently receiving a lot of attention in the forensic literature. Most of the research efforts have been devoted to cadmium telluride (CdTe) quantum dots often applied as powders to the surfaces of interests. Both the use of cadmium and the nano size of these particles raise important issues in terms of health and safety. This paper proposes to replace CdTe QDs by zinc sulphide QDs doped with copper (ZnS:Cu) to address these issues. Zinc sulphide-copper doped QDs were successfully synthesized, characterized in terms of size and optical properties and optimized to be applied for the detection of impressions left in blood, where CdTe QDs proved to be efficient. Effectiveness of detection was assessed in comparison with CdTe QDs and Acid Yellow 7 (AY7, an effective blood reagent), using two series of depletive blood fingermarks from four donors prepared on four non-porous substrates, i.e. glass, transparent polypropylene, black polyethylene and aluminium foil. The marks were cut in half and processed separately with both reagents, leading to two comparison series (ZnS:Cu vs. CdTe, and ZnS:Cu vs. AY7). ZnS:Cu proved to be better than AY7 and at least as efficient as CdTe on most substrates. Consequently, copper-doped ZnS QDs constitute a valid substitute for cadmium-based QDs to detect blood marks on non-porous substrates and offer a safer alternative for routine use.

Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc. (Haloragaceae), una espècie invasora en procés de naturalització als Països Catalans = Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc. (Haloragaceae), an invasive species in the process of naturalisation in the Catalan Countries

Nota breu sobre la descripció de Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc. (Haloragaceae) als Països Catalans