Análisis de necesidades en el diseño de los cursos de inglés: convergiendo las voces de los aprendices, los profesores y autores

Needs analysis (NA), which is considered central to English for Academic Purposes course development, normally precedes course design. It includes the identification of potential students’ motivation, needs and lacks. However, this approach has such drawbacks as present-moment orientation and distortion of results due to learners’ misconceptions and set beliefs. This paper demonstrates that needs analysis can be extended to the materials evaluation stage and account for the needs identified by language learners, course developers and language teachers, thus mitigating possible distortions. The methods implemented in the needs analysis in focus involved surveys and questionnaires administered to potential learners at different stages of course design, questionnaires for teachers, and the authors’ understanding of the learners’ characteristics and the environment they function in. It is illustrated how the triangulation of NA sources assisted in developing new and improving existing materials in the international “English for Academics” project. Needs analysis is process-oriented and multidimensional when it penetrates the course design process, actively engaging all the parties such as course developers, potential learners and instructors. It allows course designers to introduce improvements on different levels and to meet the needs of all the participants.El análisis de necesidades (AN), que se considera fundamental para el desarrollo del curso Inglés para fines académicos, normalmente precede al diseño del curso. AN incluye la identificación de potenciales motivaciones, necesidades y carencias de los estudiantes. Sin embargo, este enfoque tiene inconvenientes como la orientación en el momento presente y la distorsión de los resultados debido a los conceptos erróneos de los alumnos y las creencias establecidas. Este documento demuestra que el análisis de necesidades puede extenderse a la etapa de evaluación de materiales y tener en cuenta las necesidades identificadas por los estudiantes de idiomas, desarrolladores de cursos y profesores de idiomas, lo que mitiga las posibles distorsiones. Los métodos implementados en el análisis de necesidades en particular incluyeron encuestas y cuestionarios administrados a aprendices potenciales en diferentes etapas del diseño del curso, cuestionarios para maestros y la comprensión de los autores de las características de los alumnos y el entorno en el que funcionan. La triangulación de las fuentes de NA ayudó en el desarrollo de nuevos y mejores materiales existentes en el proyecto internacional “English for Academics”. &nbsp

Análisis de necesidades en el diseño de los cursos de inglés: convergiendo las voces de los aprendices, los profesores y autores

Needs analysis (NA), which is considered central to English for Academic Purposes course development, normally precedes course design. It includes the identification of potential students’ motivation, needs and lacks. However, this approach has such drawbacks as present-moment orientation and distortion of results due to learners’ misconceptions and set beliefs. This paper demonstrates that needs analysis can be extended to the materials evaluation stage and account for the needs identified by language learners, course developers and language teachers, thus mitigating possible distortions. The methods implemented in the needs analysis in focus involved surveys and questionnaires administered to potential learners at different stages of course design, questionnaires for teachers, and the authors’ understanding of the learners’ characteristics and the environment they function in. It is illustrated how the triangulation of NA sources assisted in developing new and improving existing materials in the international “English for Academics” project. Needs analysis is process-oriented and multidimensional when it penetrates the course design process, actively engaging all the parties such as course developers, potential learners and instructors. It allows course designers to introduce improvements on different levels and to meet the needs of all the participants.El análisis de necesidades (AN), que se considera fundamental para el desarrollo del curso Inglés para fines académicos, normalmente precede al diseño del curso. AN incluye la identificación de potenciales motivaciones, necesidades y carencias de los estudiantes. Sin embargo, este enfoque tiene inconvenientes como la orientación en el momento presente y la distorsión de los resultados debido a los conceptos erróneos de los alumnos y las creencias establecidas. Este documento demuestra que el análisis de necesidades puede extenderse a la etapa de evaluación de materiales y tener en cuenta las necesidades identificadas por los estudiantes de idiomas, desarrolladores de cursos y profesores de idiomas, lo que mitiga las posibles distorsiones. Los métodos implementados en el análisis de necesidades en particular incluyeron encuestas y cuestionarios administrados a aprendices potenciales en diferentes etapas del diseño del curso, cuestionarios para maestros y la comprensión de los autores de las características de los alumnos y el entorno en el que funcionan. La triangulación de las fuentes de NA ayudó en el desarrollo de nuevos y mejores materiales existentes en el proyecto internacional “English for Academics”. El análisis de necesidades está orientado a los procesos y es multidimensional cuando penetra en el proceso de diseño del curso, involucrando activamente a todas las partes, como los desarrolladores de cursos, los posibles alumnos y los instructores. Permite a los diseñadores de cursos introducir mejoras en diferentes niveles y satisfacer las necesidades de todos los participantes

Translation of Bogolepova, I. I. 1953. Gregariny iz zaliva Petra Velikogo [= Gregarines from the Gulf of Peter the Great]. \u3ci\u3eTrudy Zool. Inst. Akademie Nauk SSSR\u3c/i\u3e 13: 38-56

Translation number 25, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, United States (18 pages) Translation of Bogolepova, I. I. 1953. Gregariny iz zaliva Petra Velikogo [= Gregarines from the Gulf of Peter the Great]. Trudy Zool. Inst. Akademie Nauk SSSR 13: 38-56 Translated from Russian by Frederick K. Plous, Jr. and edited by Norman D. Levin

PHARMACOECONOMIC EFFECTIVENESS OF NAFTIDROFURYL IN PATIENTS WITH ISCHEMIC STROKE

The study objective is to conduct a pharmacoeconomic analysis of naftidrofuryl effectiveness in patients with ischemic stroke.Materials and methods. The work is based on the results of clinical studies of effectiveness, tolerability, and safety of naftidrofuryl in patients who suffered an ischemic stroke. The study design included data on 1000 patients of 45 and older with first-time acute cerebrovascular disease of ischemic type.Results. Direct medical costs for the chosen patient cohort per the Standard of stroke treatment current at the time of the study were 730 575 189 rubles, in case of naftidrofuryl inclusion they were 476 467 620 rubles. Cost minimization is 254 107 569 rubles. Indirect nonmedical costs associated with temporary incapacity for work for treatment per the Standard of stroke treatment were 124 156 950 rubles, and 64 559 180 rubles for naftidrofuryl use which demonstrates the drug’s economic benefit. Budget impact analysis has shown that the possible savings constitute 7.59 %.Conclusion. Inclusion of naftidrofuryl into treatment of patients with ischemic stroke is justified as it decreases duration of rehabilitation. This leads to a positive economic effect expressed as decreased direct and non-direct medical costs

The Origin and Initial Rise of Pelagic Cephalopods in the Ordovician

BACKGROUND: During the Ordovician the global diversity increased dramatically at family, genus and species levels. Partially the diversification is explained by an increased nutrient, and phytoplankton availability in the open water. Cephalopods are among the top predators of today's open oceans. Their Ordovician occurrences, diversity evolution and abundance pattern potentially provides information on the evolution of the pelagic food chain. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We reconstructed the cephalopod departure from originally exclusively neritic habitats into the pelagic zone by the compilation of occurrence data in offshore paleoenvironments from the Paleobiology Database, and from own data, by evidence of the functional morphology, and the taphonomy of selected cephalopod faunas. The occurrence data show, that cephalopod associations in offshore depositional settings and black shales are characterized by a specific composition, often dominated by orthocerids and lituitids. The siphuncle and conch form of these cephalopods indicate a dominant lifestyle as pelagic, vertical migrants. The frequency distribution of conch sizes and the pattern of epibionts indicate an autochthonous origin of the majority of orthocerid and lituitid shells. The consistent concentration of these cephalopods in deep subtidal sediments, starting from the middle Tremadocian indicates the occupation of the pelagic zone early in the Early Ordovician and a subsequent diversification which peaked during the Darriwilian. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The exploitation of the pelagic realm started synchronously in several independent invertebrate clades during the latest Cambrian to Middle Ordovician. The initial rise and diversification of pelagic cephalopods during the Early and Middle Ordovician indicates the establishment of a pelagic food chain sustainable enough for the development of a diverse fauna of large predators. The earliest pelagic cephalopods were slowly swimming vertical migrants. The appearance and early diversification of pelagic cephalopods is interpreted as a consequence of the increased food availability in the open water since the latest Cambrian

Евгения Тур и неизвестные письма ее дочери Ольги, 1862-1869

Evgenia Tur (pseudonym of Elizaveta Salias de Tournemir, nee Sukhovo-Kobylina) was a prominent female author in Russia in the middle of the 19th century. She has been virtually forgotten today, however. Tur was at the epicenter of Russian cultural life; she wrote prose fiction, critical articles, children’s books, and published the newspaper Russian Speech. She also hosted a salon, frequented by many of prominent intellectuals, including Turgenev, Ogarev, Ostrovsky and Herzen. Tur’s works have never been published in a collected edition and little of her correspondence has been printed. A great deal of assumptions have been made about her biography, which has not been studied in detail. The article provides a short biography of Tur and presents archive materials containing previously unknown facts about her life. Letters written by her daughter Olga in 1862–1869 (deposited in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art in Moscow) are presented here for the first time.

The role of neurotrophic factors in development of post-stroke depression

Cerebrovascular disease is one of the most important causes of disability. Depression is reported to be the most widespread psychological disorder among stroke complications. Post-stroke depression is observed in about 1/3 of stroke survivors, the overall incidence rate is 55%. Depression that develops after stroke has a strong negative influence on the primary disease course, deteriorates functional improvement and quality of life and increases mortality rate. Depressive disorder in patients is a risk factor of additional cognitive disorders development, as much as to dementia. In recent years a lot of evidence on nerve growth factors involvement in pathogenesis of affective disorders development has been acquired. A decrease in brain-derived nerve factor (BDNF) levels was observed in patients with depressive disorders. Moreover, neurotrophic factors can be regarded as possible biomarkers not only of post-stroke depressive disorder itself but also of response to treatment with antidepressants. Acquired data show that BDNF has a key role in post-stroke depression pathophysiology. Use of medications with neurotrophic action such as cerebrolysin is an important aspect of post-stroke depression treatment. Preclinical studies showed that cerebrolysin influences levels of neurotrophic factor and demonstrated functional equivalence of cerebrolysin neuropeptides and neurotrophic factors. In clinical studies cerebrolysin effectiveness in post-stroke depression treatment was demonstrated. Positive results of cerebrolysin and antidepressants combined use were acquired