Introducing a Romanian Frequency List and the Romanian Vocabulary Levels Test

Vocabulary is considered essential to language learning, thus English word lists and tests based on frequency information have become the centre of attention for researchers, teachers and learners alike. As a result, it is argued hereby that frequency based word lists and tests should be adapted and regarded as key elements for teaching and learning Romanian as an additional language as well. Since there are currently no reliable frequency lists and lexical tests in Romanian, this paper aims to bridge this gap by introducing the first Romanian Word List and the Romanian Vocabulary Levels Test. The list contains the 10,000 most frequent Romanian words and is based on the Romanian Balanced Annotated Corpus (ROMBAC, Ion, Irimia, Ștefănescu, Tufiș 2012). The primary objective of the paper is to elaborate on the compilation criteria, the challenges involved and the benefits of such a list in the case of teaching, learning and curriculum design for Romanian as an additional language. The secondary objective is to present a practical application of the word list by introducing an exemplary Romanian lexical test, the Romanian Vocabulary Levels Test and examine its reliability and validity

Exploring the Mental Lexicon of the Multilingual: Vocabulary Size, Cognate Recognition and Lexical Access in the L1, L2 and L3

Recent empirical findings in the field of Multilingualism have shown that the mental lexicon of a language learner does not consist of separate entities, but rather of an intertwined system where languages can interact with each other (e.g. Cenoz, 2013; Szubko-Sitarek, 2015). Accordingly, multilingual language learners have been considered differently to second language learners in a growing number of studies, however studies on the variation in learners’ vocabulary size both in the L2 and L3 and the effect of cognates on the target languages have been relatively scarce. This paper, therefore, investigates the impact of prior lexical knowledge on additional language learning in the case of Hungarian native speakers, who use Romanian (a Romance language) as a second language (L2) and learn English as an L3. The study employs an adapted version of the widely used Vocabulary Size Test (Nation & Beglar, 2007), the Romanian Vocabulary Size Test (based on the Romanian Frequency List; Szabo, 2015) and a Hungarian test (based on a Hungarian frequency list; Varadi, 2002) in order to measure vocabulary sizes, cognate knowledge and response times in these languages. The findings, complemented by a self-rating language background questionnaire, indicate a strong link between Romanian and English lexical proficiency

Translation of Education-Related Terminology From Czech Language to English

The article introduces the readers to selected terminological findings acquired in recent years while translating monographs and articles dealing with educational science. The purpose of this article is also to react on the trends, which are manifesting themselves in an intensive communication of Czech scientific and educational workers in the English language and also the demand put on students who have to submit their abstracts and key words together with their theses. In this connection, we deal with more or less frequent terms of educational science, didactics and other related fields. Keywords : educational science, pedagogy, didactics, methodology, terminology, translation, Czech language, English languag

The Homology Relation between Molecules: a Revival of an Old Way for Classification of Molecules

The homology (homolo) relation between molecules was introduced. This relation is a generalization of an old idea of series of homologous compounds. The homolo relation operates on a molecule by removing all the structural fragments that are identical with a certain selected fragment. As a result a multiset of fragments is produced. It was shown that the homolo relation is an equivalence relation in a set of molecules. Thus, by choosing various reference fragments, the molecules can be classified in many different ways. Using the language of homolo operation it is possible to redefine such ideas as constitutional and stereo isomers as well as a generator of a molecule and, for instance, factorization of a molecule onto fragments. </p

Selective Transport of Functional Polymer-Hybrid Vesicles into Cell Nuclei

The cell nucleus is the ultimate target for many therapeutic treatments including cancer, brain disorders and heart dysfunction. Therefore, organelle-specific nanocarriers (NCs) are highly sought after for delivering sufficient concentrations of the active therapeutic agent in situ. This requires the NCs to interact with the nucleocytoplasmic transport (NCT) to enter nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). Yet, little is known as to how NCs infiltrate this vital intracellular barrier to enter the nuclear interior. Furthermore, it is poorly understood how the physico-chemical NC properties influence this process. Here, ∼50 nm-sized synthetic NCs were developed based on polymer-hybrid vesicles, known as polymersomes. Following a bottom-up approach, biocompatible and amphiphilic PMOXA-PDMS-PMOXA triblock copolymers were self-assembled into NCs and surface-conjugated with nuclear localization sequences (NLS). Those NLS-NCs represent ideal candidates to study NCT, as they remain structurally intact during nuclear import due to the enhanced polymersome membrane stability and strength as compared to liposomes. Moreover, the NLS surface tags authenticate NCs as nucleus specific and enable the NCT mediated import. Applying a so-called film rehydration method permits encapsulating the hydrophilic model drug Ruthenium Red inside the aqueous vesicle cavity and post-treatment with Bodipy 630/650 allows intercalating a lipophilic model drug into the membrane of the same NC. The encapsulated drugs are consequently protected against premature degradation and carried together to the nucleus. In addition, NLS-NCs were used as large cargoes to study NCT mechanisms. Detailed chemical, biophysical and cellular analysis show that karyopherin receptors (Kaps) are required to bind and escort NLS-NCs through NPCs while Ran guanosine triphosphate (RanGTP) promotes their release from NPCs into the nuclear interior. Ultrastructural analysis by transmission electron microscopy further resolves NLS-NCs on transit in NPCs and inside the nucleus. By elucidating their ability to utilize NCT, these findings demonstrate the efficacy of polymersomes to deliver encapsulated payloads directly into cell nuclei

Comparing "challenge-based" and "code-based" internet voting verification implementations

Internet-enabled voting introduces an element of invisibility and unfamiliarity into the voting process, which makes it very different from traditional voting. Voters might be concerned about their vote being recorded correctly and included in the final tally. To mitigate mistrust, many Internet-enabled voting systems build verifiability into their systems. This allows voters to verify that their votes have been cast as intended, stored as cast and tallied as stored at the conclusion of the voting period. Verification implementations have not been universally successful, mostly due to voter difficulties using them. Here, we evaluate two cast as intended verification approaches in a lab study: (1) "Challenge-Based" and (2) "Code-Based". We assessed cast-as-intended vote verification efficacy, and identified usability issues related to verifying and/or vote casting. We also explored acceptance issues post-verification, to see whether our participants were willing to engage with Internet voting in a real election. Our study revealed the superiority of the code-based approach, in terms of ability to verify effectively. In terms of real-life Internet voting acceptance, convenience encourages acceptance, while security concerns and complexity might lead to rejection

Finite element analysis of second order wave resonance by multiple cylinders in a uniform current

The purpose of this paper is to study the diffraction of second order Stokes waves by four cylinders in a uniform current and mainly focus on the near-trapping phenomenon. A time domain second-order theory is employed to establish the mathematical Smodel by splitting the total potential into the disturbed velocity potential caused by current, the first- or linear and second-order potentials, which satisfy their own boundary conditions. Each potential is calculated through the finite element method (FEM). Numerical results for four bottom-mounted cylinders in a uniform current are provided to show the resonant behaviour of waves and hydrodynamic forces including linear and second order at near-trapped frequencies, and the current effect on the wave and force are also analysed and discussed. Some results for a single- and four-cylinder cases are compared with previous studies

Notes on the description of join-distributive lattices by permutations

Let L be a join-distributive lattice with length n and width (Ji L) k. There are two ways to describe L by k − 1 permutations acting on an n-element set: a combinatorial way given by P.H. Edelman and R. E. Jamison in 1985 and a recent lattice theoretical way of the second author. We prove that these two approaches are equivalent. Also, we characterize join-distributive lattices by trajectorie