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This paper presents a multi-user mobile learning system—specifically designed to enhance collaborative language learning through mobile devices. The system delivers an app version of a paper-based learning task, called Terminkalender, which has successfully been used for several years with students from an A1-level German language course (CEFR). The learning task requires students to interact with each other via text messages in order to jointly plan different activities and record them in an appointment calendar. While the paper-based version already had a great potential for engaging students to interact in the target language, the app not only facilitates students’ interaction, but also allows teachers to easily trace back and analyse learners’ interaction. To this end, specific software implementing several features was developed: a web-based platform for system administration, an in-app text chat function, real-time feedback on learner performance as well as a log function for storage and assessment of learners’ interaction. The experiment sheds some light on the potential of the designed system for analysing learners’ behaviour and interaction patterns as well as assessing different indicators with regard to the student use and competencies in the target language.

Bladder cancer (BC), the most frequent malignancy of the urinary system, is ranked the sixth most prevalent cancer worldwide. Of all newly diagnosed patients with BC, 70–75% will present disease confined to the mucosa or submucosa, the non-muscle-invasive BC (NMIBC) subtype. Of those, approximately 70% will recur after transurethral resection (TUR). Due to high rate of recurrence, patients are submitted to an intensive follow-up program maintained throughout many years, or even throughout life, resulting in an expensive follow-up, with cystoscopy being the most cost-effective procedure for NMIBC screening. Currently, the gold standard procedure for detection and follow-up of NMIBC is based on the association of cystoscopy and urine cytology. As cystoscopy is a very invasive approach, over the years, many different noninvasive assays (both based in serum and urine samples) have been developed in order to search genetic and protein alterations related to the development, progression, and recurrence of BC. TERT promoter mutations and FGFR3 hotspot mutations are the most frequent somatic alterations in BC and constitute the most reliable biomarkers for BC. Based on these, we developed an ultra-sensitive, urine-based assay called Uromonitor®, capable of detecting trace amounts of TERT promoter (c.1-124C > T and c.1-146C > T) and FGFR3 (p.R248C and p.S249C) hotspot mutations, in tumor cells exfoliated to urine samples. Cells present in urine were concentrated by the filtration of urine through filters where tumor cells are trapped and stored until analysis, presenting long-term stability. Detection of the alterations was achieved through a custom-made, robust, and highly sensitive multiplex competitive allele-specific discrimination PCR allowing clear interpretation of results. In this study, we validate a test for NMIBC recurrence detection, using for technical validation a total of 331 urine samples and 41 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues of the primary tumor and recurrence lesions from a large cluster of urology centers. In the clinical validation, we used 185 samples to assess sensitivity/specificity in the detection of NMIBC recurrence vs. cystoscopy/cytology and in a smaller cohort its potential as a primary diagnostic tool for NMIBC. Our results show this test to be highly sensitive (73.5%) and specific (93.2%) in detecting recurrence of BC in patients under surveillance of NMIBC.

Leiomyosarcoma (LMS) is a rare malignant tumor of smooth muscle origin that generally stems from soft tissues and uterine tissue. Although, a small percentage of these may originate from the smooth muscle or vessel walls, most of which are of venous origin. Renal leiomyosarcomas may arise from the smooth muscle fibers of renal pelvis, renal capsule or renal vessels, last one is the most frequent. We report a case of renal LMS that could be originated in the renal capsule.

El carácter crónico de la cirrosis hepática y sus severas complicaciones, entre las que se incluyen la incapacidad del propio paciente para llevar a cabo sus autocuidados, hacen recomendable la identificación y asignación de un cuidador principal que conviva con el paciente y sepa reconocer la aparición de los trastornos propios de la enfermedad. Sin embargo, para ello es preciso que, tanto el cuidador principal como el propio paciente, dispongan de la información adecuada sobre los hábitos dietéticos y sobre las medidas de control y observación necesarias que se han de seguir, una vez que la enfermedad ha sido diagnosticada. El objetivo del presente estudio es determinar el grado de conocimiento que tiene el cuidador principal del paciente cirrótico sobre la enfermedad para, a partir de aquí, elaborar estrategias y protocolos de educación sanitaria, que permitan evitar innecesarias hospitalizaciones o frenar, en la medida de lo posible, las complicaciones que el curso de la citada patología conlleva. Y también determinar el cansancio en el rol del cuidador, como diagnóstico de la NANDA. Hemos hallado un porcentaje significativo de cuidadores principales que desconocen la correlación existente entre el estreñimiento y la encefalopatía hepática y algunos datos de una insuficiente información. Abstract The chronic character of the liver cirrhosis and its severe complications, including the patient inability to take care of himself, makes recommendable the availability of a caregiver living with the patient. This caregiver should be able to recognize the usual disorders associated to the cirrhosis. Additionally, an adequate information about the dietary habits and other recommended measures is mandatory for both the caregiver and patient to keep under control all the complications which appears once the illness has been diagnosed. The objective of the present study was to explore the knowledge of the cirrhotic patient’s caregiver regarding this illness. This was intended as a first step in order to develop education protocols that might reduce illness complications and the eventually avoidable hospital admissions. It also tried to explore and determine the fatigue of the personal caregiver in her role, as a diagnosis of the NANDA. We found a significant percentage of caregivers who were not aware of the relationship between constipation and encephalopaty as well as other data indicating insufficient education of the caregivers. Centro de Trabajo: (*) Diplomados Universitarios de Enfermería y (**) Supervisora de Enfermería. Servicio de Digestivo. Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar. Cádiz. España Fecha del Trabajo: 15/06/2004 Palabra Clave: Cirrosis, cuidador, conocimientos, enfermería Key Words: Cirrhosis, caregiver, knowledge, nursing

The chronic character of the liver cirrhosis and its severe complications, including the patient inability to take care of himself, makes recommendable the availability of a caregiver living with the patient. This caregiver should be able to recognize the usual disorders associated to the cirrhosis. Additionally, an adequate information about the dietary habits and other recommended measures is mandatory for both the caregiver and patient to keep under control all the complications which appears once the illness has been diagnosed.The objective of the present study was to explore the knowledge of the cirrhotic patient’s caregiver regarding this illness. This was intended as a first step in order to develop education protocols that might reduce illness complications and the eventually avoidable hospital admissions. It also tried to explore and determine the fatigue of the personal caregiver in her role, as a diagnosis of the NANDA.We found a significant percentage of caregivers who were not aware of the relationship between constipation and encephalopaty as well as other data indicating insufficient education of the caregivers.

Myopodin is a cytoskeleton protein that shuttles to the nucleus depending on the cellular differentiation and stress. It has shown tumor suppressor functions. Myopodin methylation status was useful for staging bladder and colon tumors and predicting clinical outcome. To our knowledge, myopodin has not been tested in kidney cancer to date. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether myopodin methylation status could be clinically useful in renal cancer (1) as a prognostic biomarker and 2) as a predictive factor of response to antiangiogenic therapy in patients with metastatic disease. Methylation-specific polymerase chain reactions (MS-PCR) were used to evaluate myopodin methylation in 88 kidney tumors. These belonged to patients with localized disease and no evidence of disease during follow-up ( n = 25) (group 1), and 63 patients under antiangiogenic therapy (sunitinib, sorafenib, pazopanib, and temsirolimus), from which group 2 had non-metastatic disease at diagnosis ( n = 32), and group 3 showed metastatic disease at diagnosis ( n = 31). Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were utilized to assess outcome and response to antiangiogenic agents taking progression, disease-specific survival, and overall survival as clinical endpoints. Myopodin was methylated in 50 out of the 88 kidney tumors (56.8 %). Among the 88 cases analyzed, 10 of them recurred (11.4 %), 51 progressed (57.9 %), and 40 died of disease (45.4 %). Myopodin methylation status correlated to MSKCC Risk score ( p = 0.050) and the presence of distant metastasis ( p = 0.039). Taking all patients, an unmethylated myopodin identified patients with shorter progression-free survival, disease-specific survival, and overall survival. Using also in univariate and multivariate models, an unmethylated myopodin predicted response to antiangiogenic therapy (groups 2 and 3) using progression-free survival, disease-specific, and overall survival as clinical endpoints. Myopodin was revealed hypermethylated in kidney cancer. Myopodin methylation status identified which patients showed a more aggressive clinical behavior and predicted antiangiogenic response. These observations support the clinical utility of an unmethylated myopodin as a prognostic and predictive biomarker in kidney cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]