Toward the Standardization of the BVL_RU: An Instrument for Speech and Language Assessment of Russian-speaking Children

The Battery for the assessment of speech and language development in children from 4 to 12 years (BVL_4-12; [1]) was originally developed for Italian-speaking children and currently is under adaptation into several European languages including Russian. The BVL_4-12 consists of three parts and includes tasks assessing oral production, comprehension and repetition skills in children. This article describes the process of adaptation of the BVL_4-12 into Russia and focuses on the instructions’ translation and standardization. It presents the results of the tasks instructions’ clarity evaluation by an expert panel including Russian-speaking specialists constantly working with children of a target age in Russia and Italy (N = 7) and a cohort of children from 4.06 to10.10 including monolinguals with typical language development, children previously diagnosed with primary language impairment (PLI) and heritage Russian speakers (N = 84). Overall, 10 task instructions were judged as absolutely clear and 5 task instructions were somewhat unclear to some of the participants. Further analysis ofthe age of the participants who rated the instructions as ‘unclear’ was performed. Some of the youngest participants, whose age did not exceed 6.10, found that the instructions for the following tasks were not clear: phonological fluency; sentence completion; grammatical judgments; idiom comprehension, and comprehension of linguistic prosody. However, the minimum inter-rater agreement among the sample was reached. The potential explanation of the results of the study is proposed in the Discussion section. Keywords: language assessment, Russian, children, SLI, task instruction

New Route to a [5,5] Carbon Nanotube End-Cap via Direct Borylation of Corannulene

Thesis advisor: Lawrence T. ScottThe Scott lab is interested in the functionalization of corannulene as a building block for large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and carbon nanotube end-cap precursors. Toward that end, a new approach to the direct five-fold borylation of corannulene with iridium (I) catalysts via C-H activation has been explored. It has been discovered that the addition of catalytic amounts of base to the reaction mixture promotes the formation of symmetrical penta-borylated corannulene in a good yield on a sizable scale. All byproducts can be easily removed with iterative methanol washes. The present work also provides proof of the reversibility of the direct borylation reaction under the conditions used. Furthermore, modified Suzuki-Miyaura conditions have been employed to synthesize pentakis(2,6-dichlorophenyl)corannulene, a precursor for a [5,5] carbon nanotube end-cap. The reported reactions provide good yields and are scalable.Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2011.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Chemistry

Shelf life extension of minimally processed vegetables using combinations of bacterial bioprotection and modified atmosphere packaging

The objective of the work: to study the effect of combination of bacterial bioprotective cultures and modified atmosphere packaging for prolonging the refrigerated storage period of minimally processed vegetables. Sweet pepper, zucchini, eggplant, celery stalks were used for preparation of minimally processed vegetables. SafePro® bio-products from Chr. Hansen (Denmark) containing strains of Lactobacillus sakei, Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactobacillus сurvatus, Leuconostoc carnosum were used as bioconservatives. For packaging minimally processed vegetables, the bags made of flat multilayer PA/adhesive/PE films and composite PET/A1/PE film material were used. The bags were filled with gas mixtures including nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Storage of packaged minimally processed vegetables was carried out in a refrigerator at a temperature of (4 ± 2) °C for 16 days. The viability of cultures Lactobacillus sakei, Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactobacillus curvatus, Leuconostoc carnosum in modified atmosphere packaging was studied. It was revealed that the gas mixture of 60% nitrogen and 40% carbon dioxide and the culture of Lactobacillus sakei contribute to the preservation of the quality of fresh-cutsweet pepper, eggplant and zucchini, and Leuconostoc carnosum is the more effective for celery storing. In the process of refrigerated storage for 14 days, the solids content in the experimental samples increased 1.3–2.1 times, the loss of organic substances was 26–50%, depending on the type of vegetables. The developed technology for the refrigeration preservation of minimally processed vegetables using bio-products treatment and in modified atmosphere packaging made it possible to increase the shelf life of fresh-cut vegetables by 2 times

Current state and tendencies of development of mass electronic educational resources

The report considers the current trends of mass electronic educational resources and technologies. Analysis of existing foreign electronic educational resources, as well as the Russian experience of development in this sphere. Makes a number of conclusions about the prospects of introduction of mass electronic educational technologies on the Russian market.В докладе рассмотрены современные тенденции развития массовых электронных образовательных ресурсов и технологий. Проводится анализ существующих зарубежных электронных образовательных ресурсов, а также российского опыта развития в данной сфере. Делается ряд выводов о перспективности внедрения массовых электронных образовательных технологий на российском рынке

Comprehension of idiomatic expressions by Russian speaking typically developing children

© Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2017. Background. The ability to understand idiomatic expressions begins to develop at an early age. However, such skill is not achieved within the same age and at the same pace in children speaking different languages. Objective. This study assesses comprehension of idiomatic expressions by Russian- speaking monolingual children aged 4 to 12 and monitoring the age dynamics of figurative language understanding. Design. 80 children were split in 4 age groups balanced for gender and level of formal education. The participants were asked to identify the correct non-literal meaning of 10 idioms. For each idiomatic expression, children heard three potential interpretations (one correct, and two incorrect ones of which one was literal while the other was overtly wrong). Results. Age-related differences were analysed by performing a series of univariate ANOVAs. These analyses showed that already at preschool age children begin to understand some kinds of idiomatic expressions and that such ability slowly develops throughout childhood. Interestingly, until the age of 6 children predominantly interpreted idioms literally. By the age of 7 their ability to correctly understand the non-literal meanings of idiomatic expressions enhanced significantly until it reached a plateau around the age of 12. Conclusion. The results of the study are in line with those found for children speaking other languages. The findings are interpreted in light of recent theories of language and cognitive development. Potential limitations of the study are also discussed

Analysis of associations of polymorphic loci of the LOXL1 gene with the development of primary open-angle glaucoma in women of the Central Chernozem region of Russia

A replicative study of associations of the LOXL1 gene polymorphism with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in the female population of the Central Chernozem region of Russia was performed. The work was done in the design "patients-control". The study sample consisted of 290 women with POAG and 220 women in the control grou

Cognitive development in children with Prader–Willi syndrome

© 2018 International Strategic Management Association. All rights reserved. Aim: The article is devoted to the specificity of cognitive development in three children with Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) in the period up to 6-year-old. The PWS is a rare hereditary disease caused by the absence of the father's copy of the 15q11-13 chromosome. Methods: Genomic imprinting is involved into the regulation of the genes in this area of chromosome 15. Diagnostic signs of this syndrome are muscular hypotension, hypogonadism, obesity, excessive adiposity, respiratory complications, mental retardation, small brushes and feet, dysplasia of the hip joints, and stigma of disembryogenesis. Currently, specific ways of treating people with this syndrome have not been developed. It is considered that children with PWS suffer from the retardation of cognitive development; however, there is a lack of scientific information about it. The study of PWS requires an interdisciplinary approach and the detailed description of cognitive development. Results: The results showed that in the period up to 6 years in three children with this rare syndrome the most obvious decline is registered predominantly in the development of impressive speech, and other functions do not suffer significantly in spite of the presence of impairments in motor development. Conclusion: The research was conducted at A. Yu. Ratner Pediatic Сlinical Hospital NO. 8 (Kazan, Russia) by the group of clinical linguists, neurologists, and speech therapists

Possibilities of Detecting Pre-clinical Forms of Atherosclerosis During Periodic Preventive Inspections in Organized Collectives at Workers of Machine Building Enterprises

Aim. To study the structural and functional features of the carotid and femoral arteries using ultrasound duplex scanning of them in patients with hypertension undergoing periodic preventive medical examination.Material and methods. Periodic preventive examination was carried out for 2431 employees (1311 men and 1120 women) aged 20-65 years using a specially developed questionnaire, blood pressure measurement, anthropometry, total cholesterol test. Hypertensive men were assessed for preclinical manifestations of atherosclerosis by ultrasound duplex scanning of the carotid and femoral arteries.Results. Hypertensive men (BP ≥140/90 mmHg and/or taking antihypertensive drugs; n=176, mean age 43.5 years) were included in the study. An increase in the thickness of the intima-media complex in the carotid arteries was found in 22.2% (n=38) people, in the femoral arteries – in 34.1% (n=60) people, in both basins – in 16.5% (n= 29) man. Atherosclerotic plaques in the carotid arteries were found in 40.3% of people (n=71), and in the femoral arteries – in 34.7% (n=61) of people, in both pools – in 23.9% (n=42) of men.Conclusion. Ultrasound diagnostic using modern ultrasound scanners is a highly informative method for non-invasive diagnosis of atherosclerosis in the arteries of the carotid and femoral basins in employees of a large industrial enterprise with arterial hypertension in the conditions of the medical and sanitary department. Carrying out these diagnostic approaches is advisable when organizing periodic medical examinations in order to improve primary prevention, as well as to prevent the aggravation of the identified pathological process, reduce complications, improve quality and increase life expectancy

Statistics of Neutron Stars at the Stage of Supersonic Propeller

We analyze the statistical distribution of neutron stars at the stage of a supersonic propeller. An important point of our analysis is allowance for the evolution of the angle of inclination of the magnetic axis to the spin axis of the neutron star for the boundary of the transition to the supersonic propeller stage for two models: the model with hindered particle escape from the stellar surface and the model with free particle escape. As a result, we have shown that a consistent allowance for the evolution of the inclination angle in the region of extinct radio pulsars for the two models leads to an increase in the total number of neutron stars at the supersonic propeller stage. This increase stems from he fact that when allowing for the evolution of the inclination angle $\chi$ for neutron stars in the region of extinct radio pulsars and, hence, for the boundary of the transition to the propeller stage, this transition is possible at shorter spin periods (P~5-10 s) than assumed in the standard model.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures; scale corrected for figures 3-

LOXL1 gene polymorphism candidates for exfoliation glaucoma are also associated with a risk for primary open-angle glaucoma in a Caucasian population from central Russia

This study was aimed to replicate the previously reported associations of the three LOXL1 gene polymorphisms with exfoliation glaucoma (XFG) and to analyze these genetic variants for their possible contribution to primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in Caucasians from central Russi