Language and cultural awareness of a non-native ESP teacher

Introduction. The relation between culture and language is a central issue in foreign language teaching and research where the need to give cultural content the same value as language content and language skills has been stressed. However, conceptualization of teacher language awareness, by focusing largely on formal aspects of language, largely neglects culture as a component of teacher cognition. This paper expands the category of ESP-teacher language awareness suggesting the inclusion of cultural awareness as a separate component of teacher cognition. This concept extension actualizes ESP teaching in the situation shaped by unprecedented mobility and intercultural contacts. Materials and Methods. The historic-logical method was used to determine shortcomings of pedagogical experience and the need to teach culture in ESP. Grounded theory, as an inductive methodology, was utilized to generate conceptual expansion theoretically tied with research in medical and business communication as well as with data on population movement and international scientific cooperation. Results. We defined ESP-cultural knowledge as a system comprising the permanent (know-that) and temporary (know-of) cultural manifestations in a society as well as how they are manifested through language (know-how). That system practical representation is exemplified in medicine and business English discourse. The study expands the structure of ESP-TLA, claiming the focus on cultural awareness as part of ESP discourse which fosters cultural-response education. Discussion and Conclusion. Such claim is pertinent to practitioners involved in the tourism industry, health care, economics, and academic activities such as research and development. This paper is relevant for teachers of English for Specific purposes in the fields mentioned above as well as for researchers engaged in analyzing the problems and methods of teaching a foreign language. However, because of the multiple manifestations and complexity of student motivation to get ESP course, the paper acknowledges the difficulties in addressing cultural content salient to all students in class, an aspect meriting further research. © 2019 National Research Ogarev Mordovia State University. All rights reserved.This research was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant No. 17-29-09136/18 «Multilingualism in the era of post-literacy: Philosophical and cultural studies and methodological and pedagogical development of a multilingual education model»).Российский Фонд Фундаментальных Исследований (РФФИ): 17-29-09136/1

Metabolic risk score indexes validation in overweight healthy people

The constellation of adverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) and metabolic risk factors, including elevated abdominal obesity, blood pressure (BP), glucose, and triglycerides (TG) and lowered high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), has been termed the metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) [1]. A number of different definitions have been developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) [2], the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) [3], the European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance (EGIR) [4] and, most recently, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) [5]. Since there is no universal definition of the Metabolic Syndrome, several authors have derived different risk scores to represent the clustering of its components [6-11]

An equatorial ultra iron-poor star identified in BOSS

We report the discovery of SDSS J131326.89-001941.4, an ultra iron-poor red giant star ([Fe/H] ~ -4.3) with a very high carbon abundance ([C/Fe]~ +2.5). This object is the fifth star in this rare class, and the combination of a fairly low effective temperature (Teff ~ 5300 K), which enhances line absorption, with its brightness (g=16.9), makes it possible to measure the abundances of calcium, carbon and iron using a low-resolution spectrum from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We examine the carbon and iron abundance ratios in this star and other similar objects in the light of predicted yields from metal-free massive stars, and conclude that they are consistent. By way of comparison, stars with similarly low iron abundances but lower carbon-to-iron ratios deviate from the theoretical predictions.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Evaluating the effect of age and area of residence in the metal and metalloid contents in human hair and urban topsoils

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Monitoring the levels of trace elements in hair can allow estimating the effects of the geographical location and also can provide a notion of the metal body burden. However, the use of human hair is controversial due to the different confounding factors that could affect the presence of trace elements in hair. As a result, a comprehensive monitoring study was performed in Alcalá de Henares, one of the major cities in the Madrid region, Spain. Trace elements have been monitored in urban topsoils and in human hair of two well-defined and healthy groups of population: children (6–9 years) and adolescents (13–16 years). The city was divided into four areas or zones with different characteristics to assess the possible effect of area of residence and age in the presence of Al, As, Be, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Pb, Sn, Ti, Tl and Zn in soils and hair. There is no current hypothesis that explains the possible effect of the area of monitoring in the distribution of Be, Cr, Ni, Sn and Ti found in these urban soils, maybe because urban soils receive high disturbance, and there are many factors involved. The presence of most of the trace elements monitored was significantly higher in the hair of the children population, except for Sn and Zn. This could be attributed mainly to dietary habits. Other factors influencing metal content in hair such as environmental factors would have had a minimal effect in the population groups here studied. Finally, none of the levels of trace elements studied in hair were significantly correlated with levels measured in the topsoils of public parks in Alcalá de Henares, with the exception of Pb in adolescent participants

Monitoring falls in gastric cancer mortality in Europe

We have considered trends in age-standardized mortality from gastric cancer in 25 individual European countries, as well as in the European Union (EU) as a whole, in six selected central-eastern European countries and in the Russian Federation over the period 1950-1999. Steady and persisting falls in rates were observed, and the fall between 1980 and 1999 was ∼50% in the EU, 45% in eastern Europe and 40% in Russia. However, the declines were greater in Russia and eastern Europe, since rates were much higher, in absolute terms. Joinpoint regression analysis indicated that the falls were proportionally greater in the last decade for men (-3.83% per year in the EU) and in the last 25 years for women (-3.67% per year in the EU) than in previous calendar years. Moreover, steady declines in gastric cancer mortality were observed in the middle-aged and the young population as well, suggesting that they are likely to persist in the near future. In terms of number of deaths avoided, however, the impact of the decline in gastric cancer mortality will be smaller, particularly in the E

Chemical regeneration of thermally conditioned basalt fibres

The disposal of fibre reinforced composite materials is a problem widely debated in the literature. This work explores the ability to restore the mechanical properties of thermally conditioned basalt fibres through chemical treatments. Inorganic acid (HF) and alkaline (NaOH) treatments proved to be effective in regenerating the mechanical strength of recycled basalt fibres, with up to 94% recovery of the strength on treatment with NaOH. In particular, HF treatment proved to be less effective compared to NaOH, therefore pointing towards a more environmentally sustainable approach considering the disposal issues linked to the use of HF. Moreover, the strength regeneration was found to be dependent on the level of temperature experienced during the thermal treatment process, with decreasing effectiveness as a function of increasing temperature. SEM analysis of the fibres' lateral surfaces suggests that surface defects removal induced by the etching reaction is the mechanism controlling recovery of fibre mechanical properties. In addition, studies on the fracture toughness of the regenerated single fibres were carried out, using focussed ion beam (FIB) milling technique, to investigate whether any structural change in the bulk fibre occurred after thermal exposure and chemical regeneration. A significant increase in the fracture toughness for the regenerated fibres, in comparison with the as-received and heat-treated basalt ones, was measured