This paper aims to analyze the non-native use of Spanish verbs of different aspectual classes by Mandarin Chinese speakers performing oral narrative tasks. In this work, we adopt Vendler’s (Vendler, ...Zeno. 1967.
. Ithaca: Cornell University Press) lexical-aspect classification (states, activities, accomplishments, and achievements), and we analyze the Spanish L2 acquisition of these categories by sinophones both at the level of the lexical form acquisition and at the semantic level. Based on data obtained from two oral narrative tasks elicited from storyboard vignettes performed by three groups of learners of L2/L3 Spanish (ranging from B1 to C1 levels of the CEFR), this work supports Jiang’s (Jiang, Nan. 2000. Lexical development and representation in a second language.
21(1). 47–77) L2 lexical acquisition pattern at the lexical form level, as our sinophone learners show a similar pattern to the one observed in native speakers in the use of aspectual class of compositional form (accomplishments)and aspectual classes of individual form (states, activities and achievements). However, at the lexical semantic level, we found that, besides L2 proficiency, the properties of lexical semantics may also impact learners’ L2 lexical processing.
This work explores and evaluates the effect of teaching the Spanish past tense aspect (indefinite preterit and imperfective preterit) to Chinese learners in a discourse context compared with the ...traditional teaching of grammar. We postulate that this teaching methodology—which integrates the content of traditional grammar programs with implicit and explicit instruction on how to interpret discourse-contextual information—will be more effective for Spanish L2 learning in the Chinese university context. In order to test the effect, we conducted a study with two groups of students under two different conditions. The experimental group contained 18 subjects, and the control group, which was taught in a traditional grammar program, contained 17 subjects. Using a teaching experiment that involved three online video-based grammar classes and the gathering of students’ data from pre- and post-tests consisting of comprehension task and multiple-choice tasks, we observed that the instruction of how to interpret aspectual information in a discourse context improved the learners’ ability to analyse and comprehend the target grammar point. However, the learners did not show more accuracy in their use of stative verbs in the post-test than that in the pre-test.
FUNDING INFORMATION. This research was funded by National Social Science Foundation of China (20CYY001).
Objective: Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients are at high risk of experiencing anxiety because the clinical processes and therapies they undergo produce strong adverse effects. In this review ...we discuss the prevalence of anxiety among these patients and examine the methods used for data collection, intervention frequency, types of instruments used to recognize anxiety, and data collection purposes, both in Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivors and patients being treated or diagnosed with these diseases. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature was carried out using the following sources: PubMed, Scopus, LILACS, and PsycINFO. Results: The meta-analysis sample was n = 2,138 and the overall prevalence of anxiety was 19% (95% CI 12%, 25%). According to the Egger test, there were no publication biases and no studies were eliminated after the sensitivity analysis. The I2 for the heterogeneity analysis was 92.6%. Conclusions: Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients are vulnerable to suffering anxiety. It is important to focus on the psychological effect of anxiety during remission or current cancer treatments because they can affect patient outcomes.
Abstract
In this paper, we analyze the acquisition of Spanish past tense aspect by Mandarin Chinese learners of Spanish by means of three semi-guided writing tests. Specifically, we analyze the ...choice of
pretérito indefinido
and
pretérito imperfecto
, taking into account lexical aspect, grounding information, and the combination of both as variables. Moreover, we analyze whether transfer from Mandarin Chinese, the students’ first language (L1), occurs in the acquisition process. Our results partly support the Lexical Aspect Hypothesis (
Andersen, 1991
;
Andersen & Shirai, 1996
) and the Discourse Hypothesis (
Bardovi-Harlig, 1994
). According to these hypotheses, verbal properties and grounding information play a role in the selection of
pretérito indefinido
or
pretérito imperfecto
. Finally, our data support the existence of L1 transfer at the semantic level only.
Pneumococcal pneumonia is a serious cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly, but investigation of the etiological agent of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is not possible in most ...hospitalized patients. The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination (PPSV23) in preventing CAP hospitalization and reducing the risk of intensive care unit admission (ICU) and fatal outcomes in hospitalized people aged ≥65 years. We made a multicenter case-control study in 20 Spanish hospitals during 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. We selected patients aged ≥65 years hospitalized with a diagnosis of pneumonia and controls matched by sex, age and date of hospitalization. Multivariate analysis was performed using conditional logistic regression to estimate vaccine effectiveness and unconditional logistic regression to evaluate the reduction in the risk of severe and fatal outcomes. 1895 cases and 1895 controls were included; 13.7% of cases and 14.4% of controls had received PPSV23 in the last five years. The effectiveness of PPSV23 in preventing CAP hospitalization was 15.2% (95% CI -3.1-30.3). The benefit of PPSV23 in avoiding ICU admission or death was 28.1% (95% CI -14.3-56.9) in all patients, 30.9% (95% CI -32.2-67.4) in immunocompetent patients and 26.9% (95% CI -38.6-64.8) in immunocompromised patients. In conclusion, PPSV23 showed a modest trend to avoidance of hospitalizations due to CAP and to the prevention of death or ICU admission in elderly patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of CAP.
Chagas Disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, affecting 6–8 million people, mainly in Latin America. The medical treatment is based on two ...compounds, benznidazole and nifurtimox, with limited effectiveness and that produce severe side effects; consequently, there is an urgent need to develop new, safe, and effective drugs. Amphotericin B is the most potent antimycotic known to date. A21 is a derivative of this compound with the property of binding to ergosterol present in cell membranes of some organisms. In the search for a new therapeutic drug against T. cruzi, the objective of this work was to study the in vitro and in vivo effects of A21 derivative on T. cruzi. Our results show that the A21 increased the reactive oxygen species and reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential, affecting the morphology, metabolism, and cell membrane permeability of T. cruzi in vitro. Even more important was finding that in an in vivo murine model of infection, A21 in combination with benznidazole was able to reduce blood parasitemia, diminish the immune inflammatory infiltrate in skeletal muscle and rescue all the mice from death due to a virulent T. cruzi strain.
En el presente trabajo planteamos la necesidad de la enseñanza de los géneros textuales conversacionales escritos como tales en el aula de ELE general y de Español para Fines Específicos (EFEsp) a ...partir de una investigación en torno a los resultados de competencia de aprendices de B2 en un género en particular, las cartas y correos profesionales de solicitud de trabajo. Si bien en algunas situaciones clave de nuestra experiencia docente, como son las exigencias sobre competencia textual en el horizonte de la enseñanza y evaluación de ELE (Marco Común europeo de Referencia y Plan Curricular del IC, por ejemplo) parece central abordar el género cartas en general y cartas y correos profesionales en particular, la pregunta que surge es cuál es la presencia que deberían tener en cada nivel y en dónde reside su dificultad, puesto que parecen estar repartidas por niveles en un rango que abarca de B1 a C2. Y en relación con dicha pregunta, también indagamos acerca de cuál es el ámbito de enseñanza en que es apropiado su trabajo: un curso de lengua general o los de fines específicos. Con el fin de hallar respuesta a ello, llevamos a cabo una revisión bibliográfica, primero, para detectar el estado actual del estudio de las cartas y correos de solicitud de trabajo como género para ELE. Asimismo, confeccionamos el corpus SOLTRAB-carta, con producción de aprendices no nativos y de un grupo de control nativo para contar con textos completos, necesarios para abordar un estudio de género (Biber y Conrad 2009) que permita su caracterización diferenciada en español (patrones y recursos lingüísticos) para nativos y no nativos. SOLTRAB-carta consta de 34 textos producidos por 17 aprendices no nativos de nivel B2 y por un grupo nativo de control de 17 sujetos, todos ellos universitarios. A partir de él extraemos los patrones que permiten caracterizar el género desde un punto de vista léxico-funcional, así como las diferencias entre los estilos nativo y no nativo. Asimismo, recurrimos a la consulta de los fragmentos del CAES (Corpus de aprendices de Español, disponible en red en la página del Instituto Cervantes) para la comparación de las fórmulas y exponentes léxico-funcionales en una muestra más amplia, en este caso de extractos, a partir de los que hayamos establecido como propios del género. Asimismo vemos los aspectos culturales e idiosincrásicos más sobresalientes del género y valoramos sus posibilidades de inclusión y repercusión en las implicaciones didácticas. Tanto este tipo de corpus como la metodología de estudio propuesta no se habían llevado a la práctica todavía en ELE, por lo que parece una vía interesante disponer de resultados en la línea de los basados en corpus del inglés, que tan útiles resultan para la didáctica.
In this article, we argue in favor of the use of the textual genre’s approach in the teaching of writing in Spanish as second language or as language for Specific Purposes. Based on an empirical research on professional letters and emails conducted in a classroom context, we focus on the needs and exigence of textual competence posed by this particular genre in B2-C2 learners. According to the CEFR (2000) and the Plan Curricular of the Instituto Cervantes (2006), letters and emails constitute an axial element for written competence across levels. The situation raises the question of what are the expected difficulties to be dealt with at each level. After reviewing previous research on the use of letters and emails for studying L2 written competence, we present and analyze SOLTRAB-carta, a learner corpus of professional letters by 17 B2 Spanish learners and 17 native speakers. We analyze data according to genre studies by Biber and Conrad (Biber and Conrad 2009, Bieber et al, 2006; Conrad, 1999; 2004; among others) in order to characterize this specific conversational genre and to systematize the most salient features of complete texts. We also compare these genre-based features and patterns with
the CAES corpus by the Instituto Cervantes (excerpts, not complete texts though) in order to stablish native and non-native style and check the results in a larger sample. We conclude our description and analyses by extracting some pedagogical implications, based on native and non-native differences on lexical co-occurrences and corpus frequencies as well on the sociocultural and pragmatic bases behind. We postulate that these socio-pragmatic and lexical differences (namely native and non-native variation and intercultural rhetoric/pragmatics) are the important issues to be addressed to in language courses, be it general or for Specific purposes. We also conclude that this scarcely used methodological approach corpus-based is extremely useful for the Second Language Teaching of Spanish (ELE).
En este artículo indagamos acerca de la dificultad un tanto difusa que suponen para los aprendices de ELE (Español Lengua Extranjera) los textos expositivos, hipotetizando, primero, que la causa de ...esa dificultad reside en la falta de sistematización de las características de cada tipo textual en general y de cada género en particular, así como de la presentación contrastada de los géneros textuales expositivos en relación con otros. En primer lugar, ¿cómo se identifica el tipo textual expositivo? ¿Cuál es la proporción de secuencias de este tipo necesarias para que el conjunto resultante sea todavía una macroestructura expositiva? Segundo, indagamos si esta carencia se da tanto en L1 como en L2. Por último, ponemos de manifiesto la falta de atención en la práctica docente acerca de las diferencias en la variación de los patrones entre la L1 y la L2 cuando de nivel textual se trata y las hay (intertextualidad intercultural). Asimismo, destacamos los problemas de adecuación más frecuentes detectados en alumnos con una alta competencia en la L2 (como son los B2) en la producción de secuencias expositivas y de dos géneros expositivos: los correos electrónicos de recomendación de un producto y un informe de producto (secuencia de una presentación oral con soporte visual de diapositivas o PowerPoint). Para ello, analizamos los textos que producen dos grupos de aprendices no nativos de niveles B2 del MCER (n=15) y un grupo de control nativo (n=20) en tareas que implican la producción de un género y de una secuencia expositivos distintos. A partir del corpus de aprendices reunido y de la comparación entre grupos no nativos y nativo se identifican las coincidencias y diferencias entre ellos (variación nativa y no nativa) y se extraen implicaciones didácticas.
The aim of this paper is to research why is it that expository texts, and in particular, certain expository genres such as certain professional emails and descriptive reports, are difficult for L2 Spanish learners. We hypothesize that it is the lack of systematic approach in the presentation of textual types in general and expository genres in particular the factors behind these attested difficulties. How can we identify a expository type? How many expository sequences have to be gathered in a text in order to constitute a proper expository text at the macro-structure? Is this procedure universal, and therefore the same in the first and the second language? In our research, we deal with the most frequent problems in proficient learners of L2 Spanish (B2 level according to the CEFR, 2001) found in their written production of the above-mentioned genres. We postulate that the reasons behind difficulties are partly due to the lack of attention paid to intercultural and patterning differences in text typologies, and partly due to the lack of an efficient didactical approach to address pragmatic problems. In order to empirically address these issues, we have gathered and analyzed the written production of two groups of B2 non-native learners of L2 Spanish (N=15) and a control group of Spanish native speakers (N=20). The written texts were part of a classroom task (P1) and (P2) by two different B2 groups and the natives. The tasks consisted in an email writing exercise (recommending a product to a client) and a task on reporting results from a graphic chart. Both tasks involved expository sequencing but in two different genres. Both tasks also involved hybridization of oral and written forms in a way, so that conventionalized rules need to be applied according to L2 (cultural) conventions.
Hajdu–Cheney Syndrome: A Systematic Review of the Literature Cortés-Martín, Jonathan; Díaz-Rodríguez, Lourdes; Piqueras-Sola, Beatriz ...
International journal of environmental research and public health,
08/2020, Letnik:
17, Številka:
17
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Hajdu–Cheney syndrome (HCS) is a rare genetic disease that causes acroosteolysis and generalized osteoporosis, accompanied by a series of developmental skeletal disorders and multiple clinical and ...radiological manifestations. It has an autosomal dominant inheritance, although there are several sporadic non-hereditary cases. The gene that has been associated with Hajdu-Cheney syndrome is NOTCH2. The described phenotype and clinical signs and symptoms are many, varied, and evolve over time. As few as 50 cases of this disease, for which there is currently no curative treatment, have been reported to date. The main objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the results obtained in research regarding Hajdu–Cheney Syndrome. The findings are reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and were registered on the web PROSPERO under the registration number CRD42020164377. A bibliographic search was carried out using the online databases Orphanet, PubMed, and Scielo; articles from other open access sources were also considered. Finally, 76 articles were included, and after their analysis, we have obtained a series of hypotheses as results that will support further studies on this matter.
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