Abstract
Despite the fact that UK ELT Master’s programmes are numerous, diverse, and financially important, very little research has been conducted on whether they deliver teaching practice (TP) or ...micro-teaching (MT), and on what students’ expectations of these modules are. The present paper addresses this gap by examining how many ELT-related Master’s programmes in the UK offer TP/MT modules and by investigating students’ expectations of these modules. Drawing on data from document analysis, we show that only 34 out of the 141 UK ELT-related Master’s programmes offer a TP module and 12 offer an MT module. Data from pre-/post-study questionnaires and focus groups indicate that students consider practical teaching experience an important part of their programmes, and report that they would like more course time to be spent on it. Based on these findings, we recommend that UK ELT Master’s programmes should provide students with ways to gain such practical experience.
Background
Childhood obesity represents a major health problem of our century. The benefits of natural products, such as honey, in the management of obesity have gained renewed interest. In this ...study, we investigated the effect of honey on glucose and insulin concentrations in obese prepubertal girls.
Materials and Methods
Thirty healthy obese girls aged 10.55 (±SEM:0.34) years with a mean body mass index (BMI) above the 97th centile for age (28.58 ± 1.40 kg/m2, BMI z‐score 2.96) underwent a standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) followed by an oral honey tolerance test (OHTT) 2 weeks later. Both solutions contained 75 g of glucose. Subsequently, subjects were randomized to receive either 15 g of honey or 15 g of marmalade daily, while both groups complied with dietetic instructions. Six months later all subjects were re‐evaluated with an OGTT and an OHTT.
Results
At the end of the study, all subjects demonstrated a significant reduction in BMI (27.57 ± 1.40, z‐score: 2.54 vs 28.58 ± 1.40 kg/m2, z‐score: 2.96, P < 0.001), however, there were no significant differences in BMI and all parameters tested between the group that received honey and the control group. The areas under the concentration–time curve for glucose and insulin for the entire population were significantly lower following ingestion of honey than glucose solution (P < 0.001) both at the beginning and at the end of study.
Conclusions
These findings indicate that honey does not have an effect on stimulated plasma glucose and serum insulin concentrations compared with the standard glucose solution in obese prepubertal girls.
An international school (BES) in Greece, overwhelmingly attended by Greek origin children, has adopted, as its language policy, English as the ‘official’ medium of interaction, including in the ...Reception classroom, the target of this research. That is, through its language policy, the school aims to promote the learning and use of English throughout school. At the same time, the school has adopted ‘free interaction’ in designated play areas as its pedagogical approach. The aim of this approach is to promote learners’ autonomy and, in the particular case, it could be interpreted as including the possibility of using Greek. Thus, a conflicting situation has developed: how to reconcile the school’s English monolingual language policy and the pedagogical approach in the play areas? Reception educators are expected to police the use of English in the kids’ play areas without however undermining children’s autonomy and/or disrupting their ‘free interaction’. The feelings and views expressed by educators show that they are seriously concerned about how this conflicting situation can be approached. The aim of this thesis is to respond to this issue of concern by providing a detailed description of how the school’s conflicting policies are actually lived in the educators’ and pupils’ language choice practices in the play areas of their classroom. By adopting the Applied Conversation Analytic perspective of “description-informed action” (Richards 2005), a perspective whereby practitioners are made aware of their own practices and are left to “make (their own) decisions regarding the continuation or modification” of their own policies and practices (Heap, 1990: 47), the aim is to raise BES stakeholders’ awareness about the possible advantages, possibilities and limitations of their policies and practices in Reception, and thus pave the way to more informed language policy making and practice in the school. The data consists of audio-recorded naturally occurring child-child and childadult interactions in the school’s play areas. The analytic framework draws on Spolsky (2004), for whom “the real language policy of a community” resides in its language practices (hence the notion of ‘practiced language policy’), and on conversation analytic methodologies applied to language choice (Auer 1984, Gafaranga 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007a, 2009). The key finding is that, adult school members and children respond to the school’s conflicting policy demands in different ways, i.e. by orienting to different ‘practiced language policies’. On the one hand, as the adults’ ‘medium request’ (Gafaranga 2010) practices in the kids’ play areas demonstrate, from the adult perspective, at all times, participants need to attend to a language preference that is ‘institutionally-assigned’, i.e. adults orient to a ‘practiced language policy’ that is in line with the “declared” (Shohamy 2006) English monolingual language policy of the school. This shows that they have responded to the school’s conflicting policy demands by prioritising the school’s language policy (use of English) at the expense of the pedagogical approach (learners’ autonomy). On the other hand, children approach the conflicting situation differently. Children seem to have developed an alternative ‘practiced language policy’ according to which language choice during peer group interaction is not organised around the school’s “declared” (ibid) language policy but around their interlocutor’s “linguistic identity” (Gafaranga 2001). This alternative language policy allows the kids to attend to the pedagogical approach (learner autonomy and free interaction).
An international school (BES) in Greece, overwhelmingly attended by Greek origin children, has adopted, as its language policy, English as the ‘official’ medium of interaction, including in the ...Reception classroom, the target of this research. That is, through its language policy, the school aims to promote the learning and use of English throughout school. At the same time, the school has adopted ‘free interaction’ in designated play areas as its pedagogical approach. The aim of this approach is to promote learners’ autonomy and, in the particular case, it could be interpreted as including the possibility of using Greek. Thus, a conflicting situation has developed: how to reconcile the school’s English monolingual language policy and the pedagogical approach in the play areas? Reception educators are expected to police the use of English in the kids’ play areas without however undermining children’s autonomy and/or disrupting their ‘free interaction’. The feelings and views expressed by educators show that they are seriously concerned about how this conflicting situation can be approached. The aim of this thesis is to respond to this issue of concern by providing a detailed description of how the school’s conflicting policies are actually lived in the educators’ and pupils’ language choice practices in the play areas of their classroom. By adopting the Applied Conversation Analytic perspective of “description-informed action” (Richards 2005), a perspective whereby practitioners are made aware of their own practices and are left to “make (their own) decisions regarding the continuation or modification” of their own policies and practices (Heap, 1990: 47), the aim is to raise BES stakeholders’ awareness about the possible advantages, possibilities and limitations of their policies and practices in Reception, and thus pave the way to more informed language policy making and practice in the school. The data consists of audio-recorded naturally occurring child-child and childadult interactions in the school’s play areas. The analytic framework draws on Spolsky (2004), for whom “the real language policy of a community” resides in its language practices (hence the notion of ‘practiced language policy’), and on conversation analytic methodologies applied to language choice (Auer 1984, Gafaranga 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007a, 2009). The key finding is that, adult school members and children respond to the school’s conflicting policy demands in different ways, i.e. by orienting to different ‘practiced language policies’. On the one hand, as the adults’ ‘medium request’ (Gafaranga 2010) practices in the kids’ play areas demonstrate, from the adult perspective, at all times, participants need to attend to a language preference that is ‘institutionally-assigned’, i.e. adults orient to a ‘practiced language policy’ that is in line with the “declared” (Shohamy 2006) English monolingual language policy of the school. This shows that they have responded to the school’s conflicting policy demands by prioritising the school’s language policy (use of English) at the expense of the pedagogical approach (learners’ autonomy). On the other hand, children approach the conflicting situation differently. Children seem to have developed an alternative ‘practiced language policy’ according to which language choice during peer group interaction is not organised around the school’s “declared” (ibid) language policy but around their interlocutor’s “linguistic identity” (Gafaranga 2001). This alternative language policy allows the kids to attend to the pedagogical approach (learner autonomy and free interaction).
Cardiotoxicity induced by breast cancer therapies is a potentially serious complication associated with the use of various breast cancer therapies. Prediction and better management of cardiotoxicity ...in patients receiving chemotherapy is of critical importance. However, the management of cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD) lacks clinical evidence and is based on limited clinical studies.
To provide an overview of existing and potentially novel biomarkers that possess a promising predictive value for the early and late onset of CTRCD in the clinical setting.
A systematic review of published studies searching for promising biomarkers for the prediction of CTRCD in patients with breast cancer was undertaken according to PRISMA guidelines. A search strategy was performed using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus for the period 2013-2023. All subjects were >18 years old, diagnosed with breast cancer, and received breast cancer therapies.
The most promising biomarkers that can be used for the development of an alternative risk cardiac stratification plan for the prediction and/or early detection of CTRCD in patients with breast cancer were identified.
We highlighted the new insights associated with the use of currently available biomarkers as a standard of care for the management of CTRCD and identified potentially novel clinical biomarkers that could be further investigated as promising predictors of CTRCD.
Poly(propylene succinate) (PPSu) is a biodegradable polyester with a fast biodegradation rate. New semicrystalline/amorphous blends by mixing PPSu and poly(4-vinylphenol) (PVPh) were prepared by ...solution casting. A single composition-dependent glass transition temperature was observed over the entire composition range in differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) traces of the quenched blend samples showing miscibility in the amorphous phase. The blends were also found to be miscible in the melt phase, as evidenced by melting point depression. The Flory–Huggins interaction parameter was found to be χ1,2 = −1.21. In Fourier transform infrared spectra, a small shift in the characteristic absorbance peaks for the ester carbonyl and hydroxyl groups of PVPh supported the hypothesis of intermolecular interactions due to hydrogen bonding. The crystallization rates of PPSu in the blends were slower than those of the neat polymer. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the final degree of crystallinity decreased with increasing PVPh content. Blends with intermediate composition were amorphous. The multiple melting behavior of the blends was studied with standard and step-scan DSC.
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