Increasing Student Talking Time in the Secondary ESL classroom: A pedagogical innovation rooted in the use of art as a guiding theme

The purpose of this theoretical research proposal is to investigate the effectiveness of arts-based instruction in improving students' oral and written English language skills, their creativity, motivation and general engagement with the subject. This paper is also aiming at exploring ways in which this approach can be implemented into teaching practice. The study aims to explore the potential impact of arts-based instruction on students' engagement, motivation, and language proficiency, and to propose a framework for incorporating artistic content in English language teaching. In order to develop the methodological design, a literature review of relevant studies will be performed on art-based instruction and its effect on the learning of languages. Finally, a set of 12 sessions will be developed and explained serving as an example of how the said instruction can be taken into the English as a Foreign Language classroom, primarily at public high schools

Natural recycling of grammar while teaching medical English

In the last few years Varna Medical University has introduced several new specialties, thus challenging lecturers to design new courses of English for health care management, dental medicine, pharmacy, obstetrics, etc. Each discipline has its own range of essential topics, terms and grammar to acquire. The structure of the language taught in these subjects, although very similar, still needs appropriate contexts to naturally recycle grammar items. students’ groups are traditionally mixed level in terms of language proficiency, and multicultural with diverse educational backgrounds. The materials designers and textbook authors have to focus on natural contexts from each narrow specialty in medicine. The aim of this article is to explore and demonstrate how one and the same grammar item is practised and revised in different contexts typical for the specific discourse of the medical specialty

Gating Mechanism Comparison Between The Trkah And Mthk Ion Channels

TrkAH and MthK are bacterial ligand-gated K+ channels with no sequence similarity and remarkably different structural and functional properties. TrkAH has a two-pore module with non-zero basal open probability that can be up- or downregulated in response to cytosolic ATP or ADP, respectively. In MthK, the open probability of a single pore is increased from zero to one by cytosolic Ca2+. Due to their different pore and selectivity filter architectures, the two channels are predicted to have distinct gating mechanisms. The only common feature between TrkAH and MthK is that in each system the effect of ligand on the open probability is exerted through a cytosolic regulatory module, composed of eight structurally conserved Regulator of Conductance for K+ (RCK) motifs, harboring the ligand binding sites. We hypothesized that, despite their pronounced differences, TrkAH and MthK have similar gating energetics, dictated by the primary involvement of their RCK motifs in ligand recognition and pore regulation. To test this hypothesis, we studied the energetics of ligand-induced conformational changes of individual RCK motifs in each regulatory module by implementing a recently reported single-molecule fluorescence-based technique, in which the conformational state of a target protein is deduced from the measured polarization of a bifunctional rhodamine fluorophore attached to a suitable reporter a-helix. From the RCK energetics in each regulatory module we derived an analytic model, which quantitatively predicts the experimentally observed ligand dependence of each channel’s open probability. Our findings demonstrate that, in each regulatory module type, the structurally conserved RCK motif visits one of three states with comparable probabilities, related by similar equilibrium constants, thus exhibiting essentially the same intrinsic energetics in Trk as in MthK. Furthermore, the gating energetics of each system are governed by a unifying principle, whereby the channel’s opening is conditioned upon a particular combination of RCK subunit states and ligand binding affects the probability of observing this combination by regulating the degree of inter-subunit coupling

Essays on the Historical and Current Institutional Development of South East and Central European States

This dissertation examines the institutional determinants of one set of countries - the former socialist states in South East and Central Europe. It is motivated by the observation that fifteen years after the beginning of transition we see a divergence in the institutional performance of the transition countries. The Balkan (South East European states) have been consistently lagging behind the Central European states. Why is there such a substantial difference in the performance and level of institutions in these two sets of former socialist countries? Unlike the sparse existing literature, which attempt to answer this question, this dissertation identifies the Ottoman and Habsburg historical legacies, rather than the socialist legacy, as a key source of divergence in institutional performance of the countries of South East and Central Europe. In Chapter 1, we identify the legacies of the Ottoman Empire and their historical origins. The chapter's main contribution is twofold. First, it identifies and discusses the origins of characteristics of the Ottoman Empire that shaped the institutional structure of its successor states. Second, the chapter analyzes the impact of these characteristics on people's behavior and incentives. Building upon the key historical dynamics identified in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 develops a stylized theoretical model of the Ottoman Empire. The model attempts to explain the rise and decline of the Empire and indirectly, the historical evolution of the Ottoman legacy. It, thereby, contributed to the literature by looking at how the Ottoman seemingly irrational and static structure could have been optimal subject to certain constraints. Chapter 3 attempts to explain the reasons for the 'great divide' in performance of the countries of South East and Central European post-socialist states. By comparing the historical developments and legacies of the Ottoman Empire with those of the Habsburg Empire, Chapter 3 draws a number of hypotheses about the effect of these legacies on current institutional performance. It presents three estimation procedures that allow us to test the hypotheses and discusses the estimation results in light of alternative theories

The semantic classification of adjectives in the Bulgarian Wordnet: Towards a multiclass approach

The semantic classification of adjectives in the Bulgarian Wordnet: Towards a multiclass approach The paper presents an attempt at semantic classification of adjectives in the Bulgarian wordnet. Although designed for the Bulgarian wordnet, the classification can be applied to other wordnets which are developed in parallel to the Princeton WordNet. The classification relies on information that is already available in WordNet from other synsets (noun, verb, and other adjective synsets) that are linked to the adjective synsets via lexico-semantic relations - including their semantic classes, as well as definitions and usage examples. The first stage of the work was already presented at the workshop "Challenges for WordNets" within the conference "Language, Data and Knowledge 2017". The continuation of the effort as described in this article, covers a proposal for introducing additional semantic classes to the adjective synsets (if applicable).   Semantyczna klasyfikacja przymiotników w bułgarskim Wordnecie: w kierunku podejścia wielopłaszczyznowego W pracy przedstawiono próbę semantycznej klasyfikacji przymiotników w bułgarskim wordnecie. Chociaż została ona zaprojektowana dla wordnetu bułgarskiego, klasyfikacja może być zastosowana w innych wordnetach, które są rozwijane równolegle do Princeton WordNet. Klasyfikacja opiera się na informacjach, które są już dostępne w bułgarskim wordnecie pozyskanych z innych synsetów (rzeczownikowych, czasownikowych i innych przymiotnikowych), powiązanych z synsetami przymiotnikowymi poprzez relacje leksykalno-semantyczne, w tym ich klasy semantyczne, a także definicje i przykłady użycia. Pierwszy etap pracy został już przedstawiony, a kolejny obejmuje propozycję wprowadzenia dodatkowych klas semantycznych w synsetach przymiotnikowych (w stosownych przypadkach)

Cicatricial alopecia - a case report with a review of literature

Cicatricial alopecia encompasses a group of clinical entities that affect the hair unit leaving permanent destruction of the follicular ostia, skin atrophy and irreversible loss of hair follicles. Herein, a 43-year-old lady with erythematous follicular papules, resulting into atrophic scars with permanent loss of hairs, slowly progressing for more than 22 years, is presented. The patient has been consulted by numerous dermatologists and no exact histological diagnosis was verified. Upon proper clinico-pathological work-up, a diagnosis of lichen planopilaris was concluded and treatment with intralesionaly corticosteroids and oral hydroxychloroquine was introduced. The patient improved significantly during the 3-month follow-up. Scarring alopecia should always be evaluated clinically and by scalp biopsy to accurately analyze the change in the follicular architecture and type, distribution and extent of the inflammatory infiltrate. This complex diagnostic approach is crucial for the diagnosis and management of all cases of cicatricial alopecias

Life-threatening dermatoses in neonates and newborns

The differentiation of life-threatening dermatoses in newborn is of utmost importance. Infectious diseases, developmental defects and complicated genodermatoses are among the most important causes. Perinatal history, mother`s general state and epidemiologic data are the other important factors for the best verification and management. Herein, a thorough review of the most common life-threatening dermatoses in newborn, is presented.  A diagnostic algorithm and therapeutic clues are provided