bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Health Technology Assessment of a new water quality monitoring technology: Impact of automation, digitalization and remoteness in dialysis units
Authors: García-Lorenzo Borja , Fernández-Barceló Carla , Maduell Francisco , Sampietro-Colom Laura 
Published: February 2021

Background
Water quality monitoring at the dialysis units (DU) is essential to ensure an appropriate dialysis fluid quality and guarantee an optimal and safe dialysis treatment to patients. This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness, economic and organizational impact of automation, digitalization and remote water quality monitoring, through a New Water Technology (NWT) at a hospital DU to produce dialysis water, compared to a Conventional Water Technology (CWT).

Methods
A before-and-after study was carried out at the Hospital Clínic Barcelona. Data on CWT was collected during 1-year (control) and 7-month for the NWT (case). Data on water quality, resource use and unit cost were retrospective and prospectively collected. A comparative effectiveness analysis on the compliance rate of quality water parameters with the international guidelines between the NWT and the CWT was conducted. This was followed by a cost-minimization analysis and an organizational impact from the hospital perspective. An extensive deterministic sensitivity analysis was also performed.

Results
The NWT compared to the CWT showed no differences on effectiveness measured as the compliance rate on international requirements on water quality (100% vs. 100%), but the NWT yielded savings of 3,599 EUR/year compared to the CWT. The NWT offered more data accuracy (daily measures: 6 vs. 1 and missing data: 0 vs. 20 days/year), optimization of the DU employees’ workload (attendance to DU: 4 vs. 19 days/month) and workflow, through the remote and continuous monitoring, reliability of data and process regarding audits for quality control.

Conclusions
While the compliance of international recommendations on continuous monitoring was performed with the CWT, the NWT was efficient compared to the CWT, mainly due to the travel time needed by the technical operator to attend the DU. These results were scalable to other economic contexts. Nonetheless, they should be taken with caution either when the NWT equipment/maintenance cost are largely increased, or the workforce involvement is diminished.
Observational study of agreement between attending and trainee physicians on the surprise question: “Would you be surprised if this patient died in the next 12 months?”
Authors: Yarnell Christopher J. , Jewell Laura M. , Astell Alex , Pinto Ruxandra , Devine Luke A. , Detsky Michael E. , Downar James , Ilan Roy , Rawal Shail , Wong Natalie , You John J. , Fowler Rob A. 
Published: February 2021

BackgroundOptimal end-of-life care requires identifying patients that are near the end of life. The extent to which attending physicians and trainee physicians agree on the prognoses of their patients is unknown. We investigated agreement between attending and trainee physician on the surprise question: “Would you be surprised if this patient died in the next 12 months?”, a question intended to assess mortality risk and unmet palliative care needs.MethodsThis was a multicentre prospective cohort study of general internal medicine patients at 7 tertiary academic hospitals in Ontario, Canada. General internal medicine attending and senior trainee physician dyads were asked the surprise question for each of the patients for whom they were responsible. Surprise question response agreement was quantified by Cohen’s kappa using Bayesian multilevel modeling to account for clustering by physician dyad. Mortality was recorded at 12 months.ResultsSurprise question responses encompassed 546 patients from 30 attending-trainee physician dyads on academic general internal medicine teams at 7 tertiary academic hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Patients had median age 75 years (IQR 60–85), 260 (48%) were female, and 138 (25%) were dependent for some or all activities of daily living. Trainee and attending physician responses agreed in 406 (75%) patients with adjusted Cohen’s kappa of 0.54 (95% credible interval 0.41 to 0.66). Vital status was confirmed for 417 (76%) patients of whom 160 (38% of 417) had died. Using a response of “No” to predict 12-month mortality had positive likelihood ratios of 1.84 (95% CrI 1.55 to 2.22, trainee physicians) and 1.51 (95% CrI 1.30 to 1.72, attending physicians), and negative likelihood ratios of 0.31 (95% CrI 0.17 to 0.48, trainee physicians) and 0.25 (95% CrI 0.10 to 0.46, attending physicians).ConclusionTrainee and attending physician responses to the surprise question agreed in 54% of cases after correcting for chance agreement. Physicians had similar discriminative accuracy; both groups had better accuracy predicting which patients would survive as opposed to which patients would die. Different opinions of a patient’s prognosis may contribute to confusion for patients and missed opportunities for engagement with palliative care services.
Waist circumference and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol as markers of cardiometabolic risk in Kenyan adults
Authors: Faurholt-Jepsen Daniel , Friis Henrik , Mwaniki David L. , Boit Michael K. , Kaduka Lydia U. , Tetens Inge , Christensen Dirk L. 
Published: February 2021

Background
Abdominal obesity predict metabolic syndrome parameters at low levels of waist circumference (WC) in Africans. At the same time, the African lipid profile phenotype of low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol without concomitant elevated triglyceride levels renders high triglyceride levels detrimental to cardiometabolic health unsuitable for identifying cardiometabolic risk in black African populations.

Objectives
We aimed to identify simple clinical measures for cardiometabolic risk based on WC and HDL in an adult Kenyan population in order to determine which of the two predictors had the strongest impact.

Methods
We used linear regression analyses to assess the association between the two exposure variables WC and HDL with cardiometabolic risk factors including ultrasound-derived visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) accumulation, fasting and 2-h venous glucose, fasting insulin, fasting lipid profile, and blood pressure in adult Kenyans (n = 1 370), and a sub-population with hyperglycaemia (diabetes and pre-diabetes) (n = 196). The same analyses were performed with an interaction between WC and HDL to address potential effect modification. Ultrasound-based, semi-quantitative hepatic steatosis assessment was used as a high-risk measure of cardiometabolic disease.

Results
Mean age was 38.2 (SD 10.7) (range 17–68) years, mean body mass index was 22.3 (SD 4.5) (range 13.0–44.8) kg/m2, and 57.8% were women. Cardiometabolic risk was found in the association between both WC and HDL and all outcome variables (p<0.05) except for HDL and SAT, fasting and 2-h venous glucose. Additive cardiometabolic risk (WC and HDL interaction) was found for SAT, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides. No differences in the association between WC and HDL and the outcome variables were found when comparing the full study population and the hyperglycaemia sub-population. Increase in WC and HDL were both associated with hepatic steatosis (OR 1.09, p<0.001, and OR 0.46, p = 0.031, respectively).

Conclusion
In adult Kenyans, increasing WC identified more cardiometabolic risk factors compared to HDL.
»Du aber, JHWH – bis in fernste Zeit thronst du, und dein Gedächtnis währt von Generation zu Generation« (Ps 102,13)
Authors: Grund-Wittenberg Alexandra 
Published: February 2021

Zusammenfassung
Auf der Basis forschungsgeschichtlich grundierter Überlegungen, wie man sich dem Zeitverständnis des alten Israel im interkulturellen Vergleich methodisch nähern kann, gibt dieser Beitrag einen Überblick, welches semantische Inventar dem biblischen Hebräisch zur Darstellung von Zeit zur Verfügung stand und gewährt Einblicke, wie ausgewählte Psalmen Gottes und des Menschen Zeit vermittelt sehen. Hier werden die Rhythmen der Schöpfung als Zeichensprache der geschaffenen Ordnung der Zeit wahrgenommen (Ps 19), dort soll ein kulturelles Gedächtnis gestiftet werden, um Gottes Herrschaft auf Dauer zu feiern (Ps 102), an anderer Stelle artikuliert sich die Hoffnung, dass mit der Gottesbeziehung auch die Person selbst Anteil an der Dauer Gottes erhält (Ps 73).
Kirchengeschichtliche Epochenkonzepte und Endzeiterwartungen in der frühen Reformation zwischen gemessener und erlebbarer Zeit
Authors: Keßler Martin 
Published: February 2021

Zusammenfassung
Wie lassen sich endzeitliche Entwicklungen zwischen subjektiv gedeuteter und objektiv messbarer Zeit vermitteln? Der Beitrag bietet ausgewählte Beispiele der frühen Reformation (Martin Luther, Thomas Müntzer und Diepold Peringer), die jeweils eigene Zeiterfahrung durch Hinweise auf Zeitmessung und konkrete Ausweise der Endzeit für andere objektivierbar zu machen.
Theologie im Dialog mit dem Zeitverständnis der Naturwissenschaften
Authors: Losch Andreas 
Published: February 2021

Zusammenfassung
Ein einflussreiches kontinentales Dialogmodell im Gespräch von Theologie und Naturwissenschaften liegt in der Diskussion um ein angemessenes Zeitverständnis. Während die klassische Physik (Newton) nur eine Zeit der ewigen Gegenwart kannte, hat die neuere Physik (z. B. in der Thermodynamik) die Bedeutung des Zeitpfeils erkannt. Die Evolutionsbiologie verdankt sich dieser linearen Zeitperspektive geradezu. Es verbleiben jedoch immer noch denkbare Zeitdimensionen, die anderen Bereichen der Wirklichkeit als den naturwissenschaftlich erfassbaren zugeordnet werden können.
L2 acquisition of thebeipassive in Mandarin Chinese: A constructionist approach
Authors: Chen Chen , Liu Feng-hsi 
Published: February 2021

AbstractA major claim in the constructionist approach to language acquisition is that grammar is learned by pairings of form and function. In this study we test this claim by examining how L2 learners of Mandarin Chinese acquire thebeipassive construction, a construction that is associated with the meaning of adversity. Our goal is to find out whether L2 learners make the association between the passive and adversity. Participants performed a sentence choice task under four conditions: an adversative context with an adversative verb, an adversative context with a neutral verb, a neutral context with a neutral verb and a positive context with a neutral verb. In each context participants were asked to select either thebeipassive construction or its active counterpart. We found that high-level learners consistently chose thebeipassive significantly more in adversative contexts than in non-adversative contexts regardless of the connotations of the verbs, while low-level learners made the distinction half of the time. In addition, while low-level learners did not yet associate adversity with the form of the construction, high-level learners did. We conclude that L2 learners do learn thebeipassive construction as a form-meaning pair. The constructionist approach is supported.
Vocabulary Alignment in the Continuation Task of Translation
Authors: Li Qinghua , Yao Kai , Ge Zengzheng 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Alignment effect in language research refers to the social cognition process in which people cooperate, adjust, and adapt to each other in interaction. Through empirical study, this paper explores alignment effect in the continuation task of translation (CTOT) and its possible influence on learning of English as foreign languge (EFL). The study was carried out by means of a CTOT. Participants were chosen from non-English major freshmen of similar capacity from a university in Guangzhou. They were divided into two groups, the experimental group (EG) and the control group (CG), with 13 students each. The students in EG were asked to carefully read some English-Chinese bilingual material. Then, the 26 participants were tasked with translating the paragraphs, which followed from Chinese into English. After that, they were asked to write down the words and expressions which they found difficult. Some of the participants were interviewed one month later for a deeper understanding of their memories of the vocabulary and their opinions on the CTOT. The data were analyzed by direct comparison and non-parametric test. The results showed that vocabulary alignment does occur in CTOT. The EG members tended to take advantage of words that appeared in the bilingual reading text. If multiple words from the reading appeared, with the same contextual meaning, they tended to choose the repeated words. As for influence of vocabulary alignment on EFL learning, it seemed that CTOT could not improve the quality of the translation itself, but could assist short-term vocabulary learning though no significant help to long-term vocabulary learning was revealed. The findings of this study provide support and explanation for some features and effects of CTOT, an important form of CT. However, the nature of CTOT itself, and its role in EFL learning deserve further research.
“I’m in contact with foreign languages every day”
Authors: Huhtala Anne , Kursiša Anta , Vesalainen Marjo 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe focus of this article is the multilingualism of advanced university students of languages other than English. Our research questions are the following: 1) How many foreign languages do students know and use in their everyday life? 2) In which contexts do they use their various languages? 3) How do they reflect on their multilingualism? The data were collected at the University of Helsinki by means of an electronic questionnaire, through which students were invited to answer open questions about their language use. In all, 53 students of French, German, and Swedish answered the questionnaire. The results of this qualitative study have been presented from a holistic perspective, focusing on the dynamic nature of individual multilingualism (Jessner 2008). In the paper, we also discuss how the languages in the students’ language repertoire could be interpreted as being a part of (or outside) theirdominant language constellation(Aronin and Singleton 2012). The results show that students were aware of their language competence in their various L2s, although many of them did not seem to experience themselves as multilingual. Many students were strongly focused on one specific L2, but in some cases, it could be possible to talk about a more holisticmultilingual identity(Henry 2017) beyond the individual language-specific identifications.
Language didactics and language teaching since 1945 – the French way
Authors: Tardieu Claire 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe following article addresses epistemological and terminological issues regarding Didactique des langues [language didactics] in France, including teaching methods, curricular developments, and research priorities. Why do the French, among other Europeans, keep on labelling “didactique des langues” what is also known as Second Language Teaching and Learning (SLTL), even though the English translation, “language didactics”, is hardly found in anglophone scientific literature? As for the very word “didacticien.ne” [didactician], so often used in France, it seems inexistent in English, often translated as “teaching expert” or “educational specialist”. Still, to what extent do these signifiers convey the same signified? How did the research area develop in France? The purpose of this paper is to research and make more visible the historical and scientific foundations of “didactique des langues “ and more precisely of “didactique de l’anglais“ in the French context. First, our analysis will borrow from educational sciences and focus on the term “Didactics” as opposed to “pedagogy”, and explain the concept of “didactology” developed by Galisson (2002), Coste and Puren (1999). We will also elaborate on the specific meaning of “didactique des langues”, “didactique des langues-cultures” in connection with other European traditions and Anglo-American terminology. Then, we will adopt an epistemological stance and briefly outline the history of the concept of “didactique de l’anglais”, with an overview of language teaching in relation to founding theories. Finally, we will present the evolution of French contemporary research.
Foreign Language Didactics and Foreign Language Education since 1945
Authors: Fäcke Christiane 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThis editorial presents an overview of European language policy and foreign language education in Europe as well as a special focus on two European countries differing very much in multilingualism and language competences: the United Kingdom and Luxembourg. A very brief summary of research discourses and language policy, especially of AILA, leads to a short introduction into the contributions of this volume.
Interacting with native speakers of Chinese through online learning communities: A case study with East Asian learners
Authors: Lyu Boning , Lai Chun 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Online language learning communities play an important role in providing learners of Chinese as a second language (CSL) with access to authentic language opportunities to communicate with native speakers of Chinese. However, few studies have examined CSL learners’ self-initiated naturalistic interactions with native speakers of Chinese on such platforms. This current study aims at filling this research gap by examining five East Asia CSL adult learners’ interactions with native speakers of Chinese in an informal learning context on an instruction-oriented social-networking based learning community. Adopting Henri’s (1992) analytic framework to understand the interactions between online learners from both cognitive and social dimensions, it finds that different types of interactions with native speakers of Chinese influenced learners’ differently. The study provides suggestions to CSL teachers as well as educational technology designers on how to maximize the benefits of online learning communities for CSL learners in their informal language learning beyond the classroom.
Chinese vocabulary learning strategies by English-speaking learners: A think-aloud study
Authors: Yan Jing 
Published: February 2021

AbstractLearning Chinese vocabulary is challenging for learners whose first language is alphabet-based. Researchers have embarked on investigating Chinese vocabulary learning strategies from both a psycholinguistic and a pedagogical perspective. Learning strategies are defined as observable behaviors and mental actions that are consciously employed by learners for comprehending, processing, and storing language knowledge. This paper reports a study in which the think-aloud research method is employed for exploring Chinese vocabulary learning strategies of English-speaking learners. The participants were eight learners of Chinese from a university in the UK. The results reveal that learners employ orthographic strategies, semantic strategies, memory strategies, phonological strategies, and metacognitive strategies. Furthermore, this study found that overt physical behaviors and mental actions cannot be separated. Various mental actions were underneath similar physical behaviors, which may lead to variations in learning outcomes. Second, there are metacognitive strategies, with which the participants could use in deciding, monitoring, and evaluating the use of specific cognitive strategies. This study suggests that Chinese vocabulary learning strategies need to be described in a holistic manner wherein physical and mental actions involved in cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies are all taken into consideration so as to inform strategy instruction.
A Surfactant-Free Microfluidic Process for Fabrication of Multi-Hollow Polyimide Aerogel Particles
Authors: Yao Y. M. , Joo P. , Jana S. C. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
This work focuses on fabrication of multi-hollow polyimide gel and aerogel particles from a surfactant-free oil-in-oil emulsion system using a microfluidic droplet generator operating under dripping mode. The multi-hollow gel and aerogel particles have strong potential in thermal insulation. Under jetting and tip-streaming regime of microfluidic flows, droplets are generated with no occluded liquid phase. The present study investigates a means of designing polyimide gel particles with plurality of internal liquid droplets by strategically manipulating the flow rates of the continuous and dispersed phase liquids through the microfluidic droplet generator. The multi-hollow polyimide aerogel particles obtained after supercritical drying of the gel particles present mesopores, high BET surface area, and excellent prospect for thermal insulation.
A Comparison of CO2 and N2 Foaming Behaviors of PP in a Visualization System
Authors: Guo Q.-P. , Wang J. , Park C. B. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Understanding of polypropylene (PP) foaming is critically important to reduce the weight of automotive parts. In this study, we used a batch foaming simulation system with visualization cell, to observe the foaming behaviors of PP that is blown with CO2 and N2 under various experimental conditions. We found that the nucleating agent content, initial temperature, pressure (i. e., gas content), and pressure drop rate during foaming have a significant effect on cell nucleation and cell growth. The cell density and the void fraction of PP foamed with CO2 and N2, respectively, were separately observed and compared. It was found that under the same experimental conditions, the maximum cell density of PP foamed with CO2 was higher than that of PP foamed with N2. However, the maximum cell density of PP foamed with CO2 was determined to be lower than that of PP foamed with N2, when the same gas mole numbers were employed. Based on the experimental results, optimum foaming conditions and effective processing strategies for PP-CO2 system are suggested.
Ultrasonographic determination of thyroid volume in infants and children from Aegean region of Turkey and comparison with national and international references
Authors: Çolak Edis , Özkan Behzat , Genç Sinan , Polat Burak 
Published: February 2021

Abstract

Objectives
Accurate diagnosis and follow-up of pediatric patients with thyroid disorders, depends on the availability of appropriate data for normal thyroid volume (TV). The aim of this study was to determine the TV by ultrasonography (US) in subjects from the newborn period up to 18 years of age from the Aegean region of Turkey.

Methods
We measured the thyroid volumes in 513 children using US and compared them with the children’s age, gender, standard deviation score (SDS) of body height (BH-SDS), body weight (BW-SDS), body mass index (BMI-SDS), and body surface area (BSA-SDS). The 3rd, 50th, and 97th percentiles of the age-dependent distribution of the TV were calculated and compared with national and international references.

Results
The BH, BW, BMI, and BSA of all the participants were within the normal ranges for Turkish children. The TV was significantly positively correlated with age, gender, BH-SDS, BW-SDS, BMI-SDS, and BSA-SDS in all subjects (r=0.748, r=0.267, r=0.730, r=0.735, r=0.664 and r=0.735, respectively; p<0.0001 for all). The most important predictors for TV were age and BW-SDS, followed by BSA-SDS and BH-SDS. In multivariate regression, age and BW-SDS were the only significant independent predictors for TV. Our results were nearly similar to the corresponding data reported by the World Health Organisation in 2004.

Conclusions
The present study provides updated values for TV that can serve as a potential tool in differentiating the normal from the abnormal size of the thyroid gland in children aged 0–18 years from the Aegean region of Turkey.