bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Establishing Cohorts to Generate the Evidence Base to Reduce the Burden of Breast Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa: Results From a Feasibility Study in Kenya
Authors: Subramanian Sujha , Gakunga Robai , Jones Madeleine D. , Kinyanjui Asaph , Ochieng' Emily , Gikaara Nancy , Maluni Florence , Wata David , Korir Anne , Mutebi Miriam , Ali Zipporah
Published: March 2019

PURPOSE

By 2025, Kenya is estimated to experience a two-thirds increase in the incidence of breast cancer. Local research is necessary to generate evidence to inform policy, public health, and medical practice. There have been no longitudinal cohort studies in sub-Saharan Africa of women with and without breast cancer. Our aim is to assess the feasibility of conducting cohort studies in Kenya that consider clinical characteristics, socioeconomic factors, and self-care behaviors.

METHODS

We initiated a short-term follow-up cohort study of women with and without a diagnosis of breast cancer with baseline face-to-face data collection and one follow-up interview (at approximately 3 months by telephone). We developed tailored instruments to capture demographics, socioeconomic factors, breast cancer risk, ability to identify breast cancer symptoms, treatments received for breast cancer, and quality of life of survivors.

RESULTS

We recruited 800 women between the ages of 20 and 60 years and successfully collected baseline data. Completeness of the data was high for demographic variables, but there was a larger proportion of missing information for specific variables required for assessing breast cancer risk. Respondents were able to complete standardized instruments to assess breast cancer knowledge among those without breast cancer and identification of symptoms among survivors. We were able to successfully contact approximately 80% of the participants for follow-up.

CONCLUSION

This short-term follow-up study provides evidence that women can be successfully tracked and contacted for follow-up in the Kenyan setting and offers lessons to establish future longitudinal cohorts to identify approaches to improve breast cancer outcomes.
Monitoring and Developing a Volunteer Patient Navigation Intervention to Improve Mammography Compliance in a Safety Net Hospital
Authors: Margulies Ilana G. , Zwillenberg Judith , Chadda Anisha , Gissel Hannah , Lettera Michael , Bender Sarah , Wallack Marc K. , Srinivasan Anitha
Published: March 2019

PURPOSE:

Although mammography screening is crucial for cancer detection, screening rates have been declining, particularly in patients of low socioeconomic status and minorities. We sought to evaluate and improve the compliance rates at our safety net hospital through a prospective randomized controlled trial of a volunteer-run patient navigation intervention.

METHODS:

Baseline 90-day institutional mammography compliance rates were evaluated for patients who received a physician order for screening mammograms over a 1-month period. This analysis aided in the creation of a prospective randomized controlled trial of a volunteer-run patient navigation intervention to improve compliance, with 49 total participants. The primary outcome was 14-day mammography compliance rates. Secondary analysis examined the efficacy of the intervention with respect to patient demographics, prior mammography compliance, family history of cancer, beliefs on mammography, and past medical history.

RESULTS:

Analysis of baseline institutional compliance revealed a 47.87% compliance rate, with the majority of compliance occurring within 14 days of order placement. The patient navigation intervention significantly improved compliance by 34% (42% in the control group, 76% in the intervention group). Additional findings included significantly improved compliance in patients who believed they had a low susceptibility to cancer, those who understood the benefits of mammography and early diagnosis, those who had a prior mammogram, those who were employed, and those with a family history of cancer.

CONCLUSION:

A system to monitor compliance and intervene using patient navigation significantly improved mammography compliance of patients in a safety net hospital. The relatively straightforward design of this volunteer-based intervention makes it affordable, easily replicable, and perhaps beneficial at other institutions.
Epigenetic inactivation of miR-203 as a key step in neural crest epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition
Authors: Sánchez-Vásquez Estefanía , Bronner Marianne E. , Strobl-Mazzulla Pablo H.
Published: March 2019

miR-203 is a tumor-suppressor microRNA with known functions in cancer metastasis. Here, we explore its normal developmental role in the context of neural crest development. During the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of neural crest cells to emigrate from the neural tube, miR-203 displays a reciprocal expression pattern with key regulators of neural crest delamination, Phf12 and Snail2, and interacts with their 3′UTRs. We show that ectopic maintenance of miR-203 inhibits neural crest migration in chick, whereas its functional inhibition using a ‘sponge’ vector or morpholinos promotes premature neural crest delamination. Bisulfite sequencing further shows that epigenetic repression of miR-203 is mediated by the de novo DNA methyltransferase DNMT3B, the recruitment of which to regulatory regions on the miR-203 locus is directed by SNAIL2 in a negative-feedback loop. These findings reveal an important role for miR-203 in an epigenetic-microRNA regulatory network that influences the timing of neural crest delamination.
A novel pancreatic cancer model originated from transformation of acinar cells in adult tree shrew, a primate-like animal
Authors: Tu Qiu , Yang Dong , Zhang Xianning , Jia Xintong , An Sanqi , Yan Lanzhen , Dai Hongjuan , Ma Yuhua , Tang Chengwei , Tong Weimin , Hou Zongliu , Lv Longbao , Tan Jing , Zhao Xudong
Published: March 2019

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal common cancers. The cell of origin of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has been controversial, and recent evidence suggested acinar cells as the most probable candidate. However, the genetic alterations driving the transformation of pancreatic acinar cells in fully mature animals remain to be deciphered. In this study, lentivirus was used as a tool to introduce genetic engineering in tree shrew pancreatic acinar cells to explore the driver mutation essential for malignant transformation, establishing a novel tree shrew PDAC model, because we found that lentivirus could selectively infect acinar cells in tree shrew pancreas. Combination of oncogenic KRASG12D expression and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes Tp53, Cdkn2a and Cdkn2b could induce pancreatic cancer with full penetrance. Silencing of Cdkn2b is indispensable for Rb1 phosphorylation and tumor induction. Tree shrew PDAC possesses the main histological and molecular features of human PDAC. The gene expression profile of tree shrew PDAC was more similar to human disease than a mouse model. In conclusion, we established a novel pancreatic cancer model in tree shrew and identified driver mutations indispensable for PDAC induction from acinar cells in mature adults, demonstrating the essential roles of Cdkn2b in the induction of PDAC originating from adult acinar cells. Tree shrew could thus provide a better choice than mouse for a PDAC model derived from acinar cells in fully mature animals.
Evidence for a regulated Ca2+ entry in proximal tubular cells and its implication in calcium stone formation
Authors: Ibeh Cliff-Lawrence , Yiu Allen J. , Kanaras Yianni L. , Paal Edina , Birnbaumer Lutz , Jose Pedro A. , Bandyopadhyay Bidhan C.
Published: March 2019

Calcium phosphate (CaP) crystals, which begin to form in the early segments of the loop of Henle (LOH), are known to act as precursors for calcium stone formation. The proximal tubule (PT), which is just upstream of the LOH and is a major site for Ca2+ reabsorption, could be a regulator of such CaP crystal formation. However, PT Ca2+ reabsorption is mostly described as being paracellular. Here, we show the existence of a regulated transcellular Ca2+ entry pathway in luminal membrane PT cells induced by Ca2+-sensing receptor (CSR, also known as CASR)-mediated activation of transient receptor potential canonical 3 (TRPC3) channels. In support of this idea, we found that both CSR and TRPC3 are physically and functionally coupled at the luminal membrane of PT cells. More importantly, TRPC3-deficient mice presented with a deficiency in PT Ca2+ entry/transport, elevated urinary [Ca2+], microcalcifications in LOH and urine microcrystals formations. Taken together, these data suggest that a signaling complex comprising CSR and TRPC3 exists in the PT and can mediate transcellular Ca2+ transport, which could be critical in maintaining the PT luminal [Ca2+] to mitigate formation of the CaP crystals in LOH and subsequent formation of calcium stones.
Crosstalk of PD-1 signaling with the SIRT1/FOXO-1 axis during the progression of visceral leishmaniasis
Authors: Roy Shalini , Saha Shriya , Gupta Purnima , Ukil Anindita , Das Pijush K.
Published: March 2019

Previously, we documented the role of the programmed death-1 (PD-1, also known as PDCD1) pathway in macrophage apoptosis and the downregulation of this signaling during infection by the intra-macrophage parasite Leishmania donovani. However, we also found that, during the late phase of infection, PD-1 expression was significantly increased without activating host cell apoptosis; here we show that inhibition of PD-1 led to markedly decreased parasite survival, along with increased production of TNFα, IL-12, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO). Increased PD-1 led to inactivation of AKT proteins resulting in nuclear sequestration of FOXO-1. Transfecting infected cells with constitutively active FOXO-1 (CA-FOXO) led to increased cell death, thereby suggesting that nuclear FOXO-1 might be inactivated. Infection significantly induced the expression of SIRT1, which inactivated FOXO-1 through deacetylation, and its knockdown led to increased apoptosis. SIRT1 knockdown also significantly decreased parasite survival along with increased production of TNFα, ROS and NO. Administration of the SIRT1 inhibitor sirtinol (10 mg/kg body weight) in infected mice decreased spleen parasite burden and a synergistic effect was found with PD-1 inhibitor. Collectively, our study shows that Leishmania utilizes the SIRT1/FOXO-1 axis for differentially regulating PD-1 signaling and, although they are interconnected, both pathways independently contribute to intracellular parasite survival.

This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
A theory of change for community interventions to prevent domestic violence against women and girls in Mumbai, India
Authors: Daruwalla Nayreen , Jaswal Surinder , Fernandes Prakash , Pinto Preethi , Hate Ketaki , Ambavkar Gauri , Kakad Bhaskar , Gram Lu , Osrin David
Published: March 2019

Background:We describe the development of a theory of change for community mobilisation activities to prevent violence against women and girls. These activities are part of a broader program in urban India that works toward primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of violence and includes crisis response and counselling and medical, police, and legal assistance.

Methods:The theory of change was developed in five phases, via expert workshops, use of primary data, recurrent team meetings, adjustment at further meetings and workshops, and a review of published theories.

Results:The theory summarises inputs for primary and secondary prevention, consequent changes (positive and negative), and outcomes. It is fully adapted to the program context, was designed through an extended consultative process, emphasises secondary prevention as a pathway to primary prevention, and integrates community activism with referral and counselling interventions.

Conclusions:The theory specifies testable causal pathways to impact and will be evaluated in a controlled trial.
O efeito de um programa de atividades rítmicas na interação social e na coordenação motora em crianças com transtorno do espectro autista
Authors: Krüger Gabriele Radünz , Garcias Luciana Maia , Hax Gabriela Padilha , Marques Alexandre Carriconde
Published: March 2019

Este estudo tem como objetivo verificar o efeito de um programa de atividades rítmicas na interação social e coordenação motora de crianças com transtorno do espectro autista (TEA). Realizou-se um delineamento experimental com nove crianças com TEA, entre cinco e 10 anos (cinco no grupo intervenção e quatro no grupo controle). Os dados foram obtidos por meio de três instrumentos aplicados antes e após intervenção. Os pais reportaram informações sobre o estilo de vida e interação social das crianças (CARS) e um teste de desenvolvimento motor grosso (TGMD-2) foi aplicado com as crianças. O grupo intervenção realizou 14 semanas, duas sessões por semana de 50 minutos cada, de atividades de dança. O grupo controle foi apenas acompanhado nas atividades diárias. Os dados foram comparados por meio da estatística não-paramétrica, com p < 0,05. O grupo intervenção apresentou melhora nas habilidades motoras após as 14 semanas (p = 0,042; tamanho do efeito de 1,86). Em relação a interação social não foram observadas melhoras significativas em nenhum dos grupos. Conclui-se que 14 semanas de atividades rítmicas pode ser uma ferramenta eficaz para desenvolver as habilidades motoras de crianças com transtorno do espectro autista.
The nurse's role in ear care: undertaking hearing assessment and ear cleaning
Authors: Kilkenny Noreen
Published: March 2019

Noreen Kilkenny, Senior Lecturer, Adult Nursing, Northumbria University, noreen.kilkenny@northumbria.ac.uk , describes the physiology and anatomy of the ear, common abnormalities and the procedures that nurses should follow in assessing and diagnosing ear conditions and hearing problems in adults
Stigma towards non-suicidal self-harm: evaluating a brief educational intervention
Authors: Gibson Rebecca , Carson Jerome , Houghton Trish
Published: March 2019

Background:

health professionals' attitudes towards self-harming behaviour are predominantly negative. Research examining educational interventions to change negative attitudes is limited.

Aims:

this study aimed to provide an educational intervention for student nurses to change negative attitudes around self-harm.

Methods:

attitudes around self-harm and mental health in general were assessed through the Self-Harm Antipathy Scale and the Mental Health Attitude Scale. Fifty-five adult nursing students took part in the 45–minute intervention. This included facts and figures, celebrity stories and personal stories regarding self-harm, all intended to increase understanding.

Findings:

after the intervention, attitudes measured by the Self-Harm Antipathy Scale had improved significantly.

Conclusion:

patients who self-harm will without doubt continue to experience negative attitudes from health professionals. This study shows an educational intervention can change attitudes towards those who self-harm.
Meeting report: managing peristomal skin complications
Authors: Bibi Fatima
Published: March 2019

A group of experts in stoma care attended a round-table discussion to identify prevention and management techniques on peristomal skin issues. Fatima Bibi, Project Manager at MA Healthcare, reports
Peristomal skin damage: assessment, prevention and treatment
Authors: O'Flynn Sinéad Kelly
Published: March 2019

The majority of ostomates experience peristomal complications, the most common of which is skin damage. Healthy peristomal skin is essential for pouch adherence, which prevents effluent from seeping onto the skin. The aim of good stoma management is to prevent peristomal skin soreness and, if this arises, to minimise its effects. Practitioners need to have a good understanding of the causes of skin breakdown and how to treat and prevent it. Appliances and accessories need to be assessed to ensure they are appropriate for each individual stoma to prevent leakage of effluent and maintain healthy peristomal skin. Several strategies and products can be used to protect and treat the skin, including barrier creams and films, powders, pastes, seals, cleansers, lotions and stoma accessories. Misuse of products can affect patient care and clinical outcomes, and increase costs. Good-quality stoma care patient education improves outcomes, is part of good-quality care and boosts efficiency in nursing services. This article focuses on good skin care regimens, preventing skin damage, particularly peristomal damage, assessing and treating specific peristomal skin conditions, and patient education.
Cone beam computed tomography – can you see what’s coming?
Authors: Ng Suk
Published: March 2019

Are dentists appropriately equipped to use and manage cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) machines, as well as to manipulate and read the scans produced?
Digital/e-professionalism: a new trend or simply professionalism in the digital age?
Authors: Nasseripour Melanie , San Diego Jonathan , Gallagher Jenny
Published: March 2019

The increasing mainstream use of new technologies in the health professions (and in dentistry particularly) has given rise to an acute interest in what some identify as a new entity: that of digital or e-professionalism. We suggest there is no standalone notion of e-professionalism but rather professionalism in the digital age as an application of professional competence, values and behaviours within the realm of social media and digital technology.
Who makes the rules?
Authors: Simmons Gerald
Published: March 2019

Is it time for dentists to determine the standard of care for dentistry themselves?
Silva Fennica in 2019
Authors: Maltamo Matti
Published: March 2019

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Unusual Case of a Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Containing a Central Scar
Authors: Sureka Binit , Varshney Vaibhav , Elhence Poonam , Bharti Jyotsna , Yadav Taruna , Garg Pawan Kumar , Khera Pushpinder Singh
Published: March 2019

We report a previously unreported case of a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor with a central scar mimicking a serous neoplasm. To our knowledge, this atypical imaging morphology of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor has not been described before. Our report adds to the body literature that describes atypical imaging variants of neuroendocrine tumors and highlights that clinicians should be aware of the broad imaging characteristics of neuroendocrine tumors.
Investigating pre-school children's self-regulation skills in terms of various variables in Northern Cyprus
Authors: Daggul Hatice Cemre , Işık Gürşimşek Ayşe
Published: March 2019

The purpose of this study is to examine the self-regulation skills of kindergarten children in terms of various variables. The study was conducted in two different kindergarten institutions in Nicosia and Girne District of Cyprus; 122 children aged 48-72 months and their parents (mother or father). In order to measure the participant children’s self-regulation skills, Pre-School Self-Regulation Scale adapted to Turkish was used. Socio-demographic information of the children and the parents participating in the study were determined using the Personal Information Form, which consists of 5 optional questions prepared by the researchers. In the study, it was seen that the scores of the attention/impulse subscale and total scale score of the girls were significantly higher than the boys. No statistically significant difference according to the gender is found in the positive emotional subscale. There was no significant difference in the children's self-regulation skills scores in terms of parental education level, total income status of the family and the number of children in the family. This study, which was conducted for the first time to determine the self-regulatory skills of the children in pre-schools of North Cyprus and the variables affecting these skills, will contribute to the similar work in the future and educational arrangements for education system of North Cyprus.
Teachers' opinions on the pre-school counselling program
Authors: Güler Mustafa , Çapri Burhan
Published: March 2019

This study aimed at examining the views of preschool teachers on preschool counselling program, was conducted with 113 teachers. In this study, a descriptive survey model was used. As a data collection tool, the questionnaire prepared by Yazgünoğlu and Demirel (2012) taking into consideration the elements and principles of the Class Guidance Program of Primary and Secondary Education Institutions were used. Descriptive statistical techniques were used in the analysis of data collected through the questionnaire. As a result of the analyses, it has been found that preschool teachers and school counselors have more than average and above average values in terms of their views on the goals / achievements, teaching-learning process / activities, evaluation / testing situations and general characteristics of the program sub-dimensions except the content / competence sub-dimension of the pre-school guidance program. In line with the results obtained, suggestions have been made to increase the knowledge levels of the guidance services and to increase the time allocated for the activities.
Attention skill development program’s effects on children in terms of attention skill acquisition during preschool term
Authors: Gözüm Ali İbrahim Can , Kandır Adalet
Published: March 2019

This research is carried out to reveal the effects of ‘‘Attention Skill Development Program During Preschool Term’’ on attention skill of 60-72 months of children. In this way, efficiency of ‘‘Education Program for Supporting Attention Skill’’ was revealed trough quantitative data collected according to Solomon Quadruple Group Model, which was chosen among experimental designs. Qualitative data were collected to support quantitative data. Within this scope, exploratory design was used as one of the research models. Study group of the research consisted of randomly and voluntarily selected 60-72 months of 80 children attending independent pre-primary schools tied to Ministry of National Education in Kars City Centre during 2016-2017 academic year. In the research, for gathering personal information about children and their families, ‘Personal Information Form’ was used as a data collecting tool, and for evaluating attention skill of children, ‘‘Attention Gathering Test of Five Years old Children’’(Frankfurter Test Für Funjahrige Konzentration –FTF-K) was used, whose reliability studies were already done by the researcher. When the scores of experiment and control groups were compared in terms of attention gathering skill, a meaningful difference to the advantage of Experiment groups was found.
Prediction of students' strategies for doing science homework by parental support and students' goal orientation
Authors: Kurt Uluhan , Taş Yasemin
Published: March 2019

The aim of this study is to examine how parents’ support for their children’s science homework and the goal orientation of students in science homework predict their deep learning and management strategies that students use when doing homework. For this purpose, among quantitative research approaches, correlational method was used in the study. The sample of the study consisted of 328 middle school students enrolling in public schools in Erzurum. As data gathering tools, the Parental Homework Support Scale, Homework Goal Orientation Scale and Homework Strategy use Scale were used. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the content- and autonomy-oriented support of the parents were positive predictors of deep learning and management strategies. The mastery and performance goal orientation predicted the management strategy positively, whereas the work-avoidance negatively predicted it. Among the goal orientations, it was seen that only the mastery goal orientation predicted the deep learning strategy and the relationship was in positive direction. The parental homework support and student’s goal orientation in homework explained 61.00% of the variance in the homework management strategy and 53.00% of the variance in the deep learning strategy.
Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “Decalogue” as a Quality TV Series
Authors: Talarczyk Monika
Published: March 2019

The text is dedicated to The Decalogue (Dekalog,1988) by Krzysztof Kieslowski and analyses the television series through the prism of genre and contemporary television studies, including the concept of quality television. Kieslowski’s series fulfills all the criteria assigned to the contemporary new generation television series, and can act as a reference point for interpreting Poland’s first new generation series by HBO, In treatment (Bez tajemnic, 2011–2013). The two titles are also linked by the same Polish film tradition, i.e. the cinema of moral concern, even though In treatment is based on foreign format.
Kieślowski in Spain: History, Reception and Inspiration
Authors: Bardzińska Joanna
Published: March 2019

The films of Krzysztof Kieślowski arrived in Spain comparatively late, and when they did so this was mainly due to the Film Festivals at San Sebastián and Valladolid, as well the efforts of independent producers like the brothers José María and Miguel Morales of Wanda Films. In 1988, A Short Film About Love was presented at the San Sebastián Festival, where it won the Special Prize and the FIPRESCI Prize, and caught the attention of Spanish critics. To this day, Kieślowski remains the Polish director best-known to the Spanish – as was made clear in 2016, by the numerous events and screenings marking the 20th anniversary of his death. There can be no doubt that, in the homeland of Buñuel, no other Polish director evokes as much enthusiasm. Considering the Spanish reaction to the maker of the Three Colours, this article focuses on the distribution of Kieślowski’s works in Spain, as well as the director’s presence at the Spanish Festivals. Further subjects of analysis are reviews by Spanish critics and the state of research into Kieslowski’s creative output in the Spanish language, as well as the release of his films on DVD and Blu-Ray. The above focus on festivals, the attitudes of critics, and the popularity among the Spanish viewing public is supplemented by a study of the impact of Kieślowski’s output on the work of Spanish directors, as well as efforts to discern the direct influence of the former’s films in offering the latter inspiration.
“The Intensity of Looking” at Karabasz, 2018
Authors: Sapija Andrzej
Published: March 2019

The origins of particular documentary films are sometimes difficult to determine, precisely locate and capture in time and space. It is like searching for the source of a river. What marked the beginning of Intensity of Looking, a film about the great documentary film director Kazimierz Karabasz? The beginning of a documentary film’s creation determines the artistic process and elements that shape its strength, energy and main thought. These elements, which sometimes verge on intuition, guide this process, shaping the subject of the film, as well as its meaning, climate and aura. There is a thread connecting the author and the protagonist of the film, something that binds them together during work on the film, and sometimes lasts much longer. The three variants of what initiates the process of making a particular documentary film are as follows. The first is an encounter with a person who could be a character in a documentary film. The second is a thought, idea or problem that a filmmaker wants to address and discuss in a documentary by means of a certain character and story. The third is a return to a character who had been portrayed in a previous documentary film, to tell more about him or her. All three of these variants were the case in the making of Andrzej Sapija’s Intensity of Looking.
In the clutches of melancholy. Interpretive analysis of Gilles Renard’s student film “Late Afternoon”
Authors: Drąg Franciszek
Published: March 2019

The aim of the analysis is to present the film (Late Afternoon) by Gilles Renard as a study of melancholy. Both the plot and the cinematographic means used to shape the form of this short film correspond with the theoretical texts by Julia Kristeva and Melanie Klein on depression in women. The author of the text considers Late Afternoon as a feminist and affirmative film, strongly inspired by the aesthetics of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s cinematic output.
Findings from “Learning and teaching foreign languages in lower secondary school”, (BUNJO 2012): Implications for the education of teachers of English.
Authors: Ellis Melanie
Published: March 2019

Findings from “Learning and teaching foreign languages in lower secondary school”, (BUNJO 2012): Implications for the education of teachers of English.This paper takes data from the first part of a longitudinal study, “Learn-ing and Teaching Foreign Languages in lower secondary school”, con-ducted by the Educational Research Institute in Warsaw. The sample is large scale and representative at the level of school, which allows us to generalise to the general population with some degree of confidence. From the data several areas appear to give cause for concern. The first is organisation of work in class, where pair and group work were found to be rare. The focus of lessons would currently appear to more often em-phasize grammar, vocabulary or receptive skills than productive skills. What is tested does not always seem to reflect what is taught, which suggests that assessment practices may not be fully informed. Motivating learners and engaging them in the lesson is also reported as a cause of dissatisfaction. Teachers were found to hold mixed views regarding the importance of independent learning, which suggests more emphasis needs to be placed on the understanding of learner autonomy. This pa-per discusses each of these areas in turn, with illustrations from the data, and makes suggestions for how teacher education could be enhanced.
BETWEEN DIDACTICS, THE MENTOR AND THE PUPILS: TRAINEE REFLECTIONS CONCERNING THEIR TEACHING PRACTICES
Authors: Blaszk Martin
Published: March 2019

Reflection in teacher development is important as it can help both experiencedand novice teachers to better understand the processes theyare involved in. It can also be used to aid evaluation processes. This paperpresents a small scale study that involved undergraduate Englishphilology students from Gdańsk University who were studying for theteacher specialisation. One of its purposes was to trial a strategy forfeedback that could be used to mediate an already existing model ofassessment for students’ taught lessons, which previous to the studyused only a prescribed set of assessment criteria. Another purpose wasto promote a reflective turn in both the student-teacher and academicmentor (myself), which would then inform the discussions that tookplace after each observed lesson. In addition to this, I was interested tofind out if this strategy would generate a suitable quality and quantityof information, so that it might be used for further research. Overall,the strategy proved a useful aid to reflection in relation to the students’teaching practices. As a research tool, it also generated usable data.
KOMPETENCJA RÓŻNOJĘZYCZNA W POCZĄTKOWYM KSZTAŁCENIU NAUCZYCIELI
Authors: Szymankiewicz Krystyna , Kucharczyk Radosław
Published: March 2019

Modern language policy in Europe has put forward the concept of multilingualism,and with this plurilingual competence. The definitions of both phenomenacan be found in numerous documents of the Council of Europe, especiallyin the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.The authors of this document describe multilingual communication in somedetail, where the native speaker user is beyond the scale. A lot of attention iscurrently being given to issues of multilingualism in education, with numerousarticles, suggestions for teaching activities and tools to develop related skills.This article raises the question of the preparation of future teachers of languageswhich will be taught as the second foreign language (L3) and how plurilingualcompetence can be developed in the classroom. The study, conductedamong students of Romance languages answers the following questions.Are students, who are future L3 language teachers, adequately preparedto develop plurilingual competence in their students? Do they have theappropriate knowledge and practical skills to do this? What are their beliefsregarding the role of different languages when teaching the L3 target language?
GOTOWOŚĆ KOMUNIKACYJNA W PRZEBIEGU ZAJĘĆ Z MÓWIENIA W JĘZYKU OBCYM: WYNIKI BADAŃ
Authors: Pawlak Mirosław , Mystkowska-Wiertelak Anna
Published: March 2019

Willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language is the outcomeof mutual influences of a wide array of psychological, linguistic, educationaland communicative factors, including those that are dependenton a specific situation, such as the character of a particular class or thetask being performed. All of them can increase or decrease the level ofWTC on a minute-by-minute basis (MacIntyre and Legatto, 2011). Theaim of the study presented in this paper was to obtain greater insightsinto the motives underlying willingness and unwillingness to take partin a conversation in a foreign language with a view to creating in thelanguage classroom conditions that would stimulate communicationand thus contribute to the attainment of greater proficiency. More specifically,an attempt was made to determine and measure factors affectingWTC in one group of English majors, as they were engaged in a conversationclass. The data were collected by means of self-reports, completedduring the class, in which the levels of WTC were indicated ona scale of -10 to +10, as well as short questionnaires filled in right afterwards.A combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis showedthat WTC in a conversation class is subject to constant fluctuations andmade it possible to identify factors responsible for such changes.
O KŁOPOTACH NAUCZYCIELA Z MATERIAŁEM LEKSYKALNYM PODRĘCZNIKÓW DO NAUCZANIA JĘZYKA POLSKIEGO JAKO OBCEGO – NA WYBRANYCH PRZYKŁADACH
Authors: Badyda Ewa
Published: March 2019

The article discusses the problems concerning vocabulary introduced insome popular contemporary coursebooks for Polish language teaching.What can be sometimes found in them are words and expressions notsuiting the language level of the course, some of them rare, specialized,obsolete, marked in a characteristic way, regional. It also happens thatwords are used improperly in the context or they are consolidated inunnatural linguistic contexts. Also some problems with proper namesappear – they sometimes have a confusing form or, with no good reason,they are very difficult to pronounce. The situation is partly the result ofthe authors’ efforts made to simplify grammar or introduce humorousatmosphere during the lesson. In the conclusion the author suggests payingmore attention to the choice of vocabulary units to be taught.
ROZWIJANIE KOMPETENCJI MEDIALNEJ WŚRÓD PRZYSZŁYCH NAUCZYCIELI JĘZYKÓW OBCYCH W RAMACH PRACY W TANDEMIE ELEKTRONICZNYM. PROJEKT POLSKO-NIEMIECKI
Authors: Adamczak-Krysztofowicz Sylwia , Szczepaniak-Kozak Anna
Published: March 2019

Media literacy is one of the basic elements of a foreign languageteacher’s workshop. Foreign language teaching recommends using mediain the classroom not only because it facilitates learning and teaching,but also because it fosters learner autonomy, stimulates creativityand lowers the affective filter. Taking this into account, the authors considerhow to develop the media competence of future teachers of Englishand German as foreign languages from both theoretical and practicalperspectives. In the empirical part of the paper the authors presentthe aims, participants, stages and results of an e-tandem project thattargeted a group of Polish and German students.
WSPOMNIENIE - Profesor Józef Darski, Przewodniczący PTN w latach 1989-1992
Authors: Mikołajczyk Beata , Myczko Kazimiera
Published: March 2019

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INVESTIGATING ADVANCED LEARNERS’ USE OF AFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH TEST ANXI-ETY
Authors: Mystkowska-Wiertelak Anna
Published: March 2019

Language anxiety has been researched for many decades now and its significance for attainment cannot be questioned. In numerous research accounts anxiety related to learning a foreign/second language comes in different guises, as speaking anxiety, or communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and finally, test anxiety. In fact, developing linguistic competence in the formal setting is inherently fraught with the need to have one’s skill and knowledge verified in the form of informal and formal, low- or high-stakes tests and examinations. Alleviating the negative consequences of anxiety seems imperative for effective learning, which in the opinion of the present author, will not be possible without gaining a deeper insight into the ways in which learners deal with negative feelings evoked by language study or use. Hence, an attempt has been made to explore the range of strategies employed by a specific group of learners – English majors in their final year of study – to cope with a stressful situation such as a regularly-scheduled achievement test in one of the components of the practical English course. What distinguishes this group of learners is their level of proficiency, which is C1 or nearing C2, but most importantly of all, their long-term experience of dealing with stress that has extended throughout formal education including the duration of MA studies in English Philology. Data collected by means of immediate reports and questionnaires revealed that the participants employed quite a limited scope of stress-reducing strategies and that there were characteristic trends, the analysis of which could serve as a point of departure for offering effective strategy instruction capable of relieving the consequences of negative affective states.
PRZEFORMUŁOWANIE W PRZYSWAJANIU I UCZENIU SIĘ JĘZYKÓW: SPECYFIKA I FUNKCJE ODTWARZANIA OPOWIADANIA
Authors: Karpińska-Szaj Katarzyna , Wojciechowska Berbadeta
Published: March 2019

This article is about a task which required learners to reformulate a story which they had listened to in writing. In the context of foreign language learning, the original text provides a discourse model, whereas the way it is rephrased reflects students’ skill to use the new information in their own words. Retelling can also be treated as language practice focused on learning and practising new vocabulary and sentence structures. The research concentrated on fragments of text that were an extension of the original text that was retold by an elementary group of students of French philology (A2 level according to The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, 2003) in Polish and French (the foreign language). Comparison of speech produced in the two languages made it possible to consider the nature and function of the learners’ discourse competence which, depending on the students’ personal goals and communicative experience, differed in the two cases. The data collected can serve as a starting point for planning further steps to develop students’ metadiscoursal awareness with the use of the retelling of a story as a learning strategy.
TRENING AKULTURACYJNY A ROZWIJANIE INTERKULTUROWEJ KOMPETENCJI KOMUNIKACYJNEJ
Authors: Janowska Iwona , Bodzioch Marta
Published: March 2019

The article introduces the concept of language lessons based on an accul-tural training model in a type of a simulation that was presented in a re-action to the current inquires on the role of culture in glottodydactics. The goal of such lessons is to develop students’ intercultural communica-tion skills through the task-solving method. The central point of the arti-cle is the author’s personal lessons conducted via a training script.
KONCEPCJE KULTURY A NAUCZANIE I UCZENIE SIĘ JĘZYKÓW OBCYCH – ZARYS TEORETYCZNY
Authors: Mihułka Krystyna
Published: March 2019

Culture has been the subject of researchers’ consideration for centuries, which is confirmed by hundreds of published definitions of the word culture. Even a perfunctory analysis of those definitions indicates that it is difficult to talk about culture using it as a consistent concept. The aim of this article is therefore to highlight the richness of meaning of the word culture by presenting and discussing the characteristics of culture which appear most frequently in definitions developed by social psychologists, cultural anthropologists, social pedagogues, foreign language acquisition researchers, and students of German philology. The final part of this articlepresents those features of culture which allow to place this concept correctly in the process of foreign language teaching and learning.
SPOTKANIA MIĘDZYKULTUROWE Z PERSPEKTYWY ORGANIZATORA – CIENIE I BLASKI
Authors: Kic-Drgas Joanna
Published: March 2019

Intercultural meetings are present in foreign language teaching and they are currently gaining popularity. It is the result not only of globalisation but also of the increasing sensitivity and awareness of the coexistence of different cultures. The advantages of intercultural meetingshave been appreciated by teachers and tutors working with different age groups. Leaving aside their benefits, they constitute an enormous organisational challenge at the same time. The following paper aims at discussing the opportunities and potential difficulties related tointercultural challenges based on the survey conducted among Polish and German teachers organising intercultural exchanges.
Risk factors for Opisthorchis viverrini infection in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, where the infection is highly endemic
Authors: Nakbun Songkran , Thongkrajai Pramote , Nithikathkul Choosak
Published: March 2019

Background

Opisthorchiasis caused by Opisthorchis viverrini is a serious health issue in the Mekong basin region, resulting in a high prevalence of cholangiocarcinoma. Nakhon Phanom province had the highest prevalence of O. viverrini infection in Thailand at 60% of the surveyed population in 2009, despite the attempted control of opisthorchiasis for >50 years. Knowing risk factors for O. viverrini infection in Nakhon Phanom may lead to improved control and prevention of opisthorchiasis.

Objectives

To determine risk factors for O. viverrini infection in Nakhon Phanom.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional survey in Nakhon Phanom province from February to March 2014. The community was selected using a stratified random sampling method, and then, participants were selected by systematic random sampling. Individuals ≥15 years old were included. Knowledge of O. viverrini infection, and attitudes and practice to avoid it were assessed using a questionnaire. O. viverrini infection was determined by stool examination with a formalin–ether concentration method. Factors associated with the infection were determined using multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Results

Of the 134 participants, 75 (56%) were infected with O. viverrini. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, 3 independent factors were associated with O. viverrini infection: age ≥ 55 years, odds ratio (OR) adjusted 6.36 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.28–31.66); consumption of chopped raw-fish salad (koi pla), OR adjusted 28.74 (95% CI 3.59–230.24); and perceived susceptibility, OR adjusted 0.15 (95% CI 0.03–0.74).

Conclusions

Age ≥ 55 years, consuming koi pla, and perceived susceptibility were independently associated with O. viverrini infection in Nakhon Phanom.
Shakespeare’s Post-Colonial Legacy: The Case of Othello
Authors: Löschnigg Maria
Published: March 2019

Post-colonial rewritings of European classics have been categorized either as texts which perpetuate colonial structures, or as ‘canonical counterdiscourses’, which stand in clear opposition to the source text. Appropriations of Shakespeare, in particular, have been the target of such polarized readings, which all seem to be based on the assumption that literary texts are fixed discourses. In my essay I shall try to counter the narrow post-colonial conceptualisation of the counter-discourse by taking a closer look at Othello-rewritings, with a special focus on African Murray Carlin’s play Not Now, Sweet Desdemona. As will be illustrated, Carlin’s text, just like so many other Shakespeare rewritings, draws on the ambiguities inherent in the pre-text, in order to engage in a dialogue with the Renaissance tragedy and activate its relevancies for modern post-colonial societies in a global context. The article thus proposes a new approach to Shakespeare rewritings, one that considers the pretexts’ polyvalence and one that exchanges notions of counter-discursivity with notions of textual and cultural reciprocity.
Leni Riefenstahl und Susan Sontag: Gibt es im Sport eine faschistische Ästhetik?
Authors: Ziegler Heide
Published: March 2019

Susan Sontag, in a famous essay called “Fascinating Fascism”, first published in 1974, argues that Leni Riefenstahl, who by that time had made a conspicuous come-back as a photographer in the U.S., had always and would always adhere to fascist aesthetics. This essay seeks to demonstrate that as early as 1936, when Riefenstahl began to work on her film Olympia (1938), she had already discarded fascist aesthetics and replaced it by a yearning for what Dreyfus and Kelly, in their important 2011 study, All Things Shining, would call the secular transcendence attaching to sports events that involve top athletes. Since Riefenstahl wanted, and actually managed, to capture such moments of secular transcendence during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin through her technical perfection as a film director, she had already implicitly begun to enter on a career which - if we allow for David Foster Wallace’s belief that top athletes fascinate Americans by appealing to their twin obsessions with competitive superiority and hard data - would eventually resemble a typically American career, whereas Sontag’s philosophical attitude remained firmly rooted in European thought until her death in 2004. The careers of these two famous women therefore call for a reconsideration of what we tend to regard as the primary importance of the immediate historico-cultural context of a person’s life.
Migration and the Grotesque in Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses
Authors: Donn Katharina
Published: March 2019

In the following, I explore the mutually enriching dialogue between the grotesque (based on Mikhail Bakhtin) and postcolonial literature that provides a leitmotif in Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses on multiple levels: first and foremost, it defines the migrant protagonists’ experience as one of metamorphosis, transgression and change; in the grotesque just as in the experience of migration, the familiar and the unfamiliar conflate, and this is foregrounded in The Satanic Verses in striking manner: the protagonists Saladin Chamcha and Gibreel Farishta transform physically into grotesquely jointed creatures, one an incarnation of the archangelic divine, the other a goatish Satan. In so, the often violent physicality of the grotesque foregrounds the migrant’s identity formation to be one in which the self not only encounters, but physically integrates and eventually transforms constructions of alterity. In very concise terms, identity here emerges to be a relational process, and this is the reason, too, why the grotesque has been hailed as a new form of postcolonial ethics1 concerned with representations of alterity. The grotesque, however, is also a transformatory force, which overtopples hierarchies and binary oppositions. In The Satanic Verses, the migrant protagonists are thus empowered, by way of their transformations, not only to cross but temporarily to displace borders; their chimerical forms interact with the narrative structure and multiple voices of the text to question the value of cultural hierarchies and divides. The grotesque opens up these borderlines into spaces of hybridity and creative energy, and takes effect, too, on the discourses of fundamentalism that are deconstructed in the text itself and became decisive in the notoriously dramatic aftermath of its publication.