Addressing the needs of international students: a case from a russian university

Introduction The study addresses the needs of university educators in alternative, more efficient teaching techniques supported by the psychological approach.Method The introduced method of fairy tale writing, based on the potential of Russian traditional fairy tales, encourages critical thinking, and enhances the problem solving process in the context of international students’ identification with an imaginary personality. The defense mechanisms unconsciously applied in the frame of an individual’s narration assist in interpreting their emotional state and psychological adaptation levels at a certain point in time.Results The complexity of the adjustment process should be scrupulously considered, as the nature of individually applied defense mechanisms is dependent on the culture and contextually relevant. Fairy tale therapy gives international students a chance to negotiate identity in writing and acquire positive feelings of attachment and belonging. Instructors benefit from “hearing out” and learning about the students who, in the traditional educational setting, would reveal shyness associated with some cultural predisposition (China, Japan, and Korea).Discussion The timely changed class instruction style and more person-centered approach can modify the situational adaptation outcomes, and long-duration observation can provide aclearer picture of identity transition. Arrangements should be made to adequately shift emotional discontent at the critical point, and this is a task for both the local university administration and the national legislative body. The theoretical prerequisite of universalism of human emotions enables the educators to perceive the coded message in the narrators’ ‘voices’ and become mediators between international students and university administration.Keywords: defense mechanisms, emotional state, psychological adaptation, Russian fairy tales, universal semantic primitive

Hydrothermal synthesis of zeolites from coal fly ash

The fly ash, from the combustion of coal to produce energy and heat, is an industrial waste, in which large accumulations represent a serious environmental threat. To reduce the environmental burden and improve the economic benefits of energy production, the science and industry focus on the transformation of coal combustion byproducts into new functional materials. The fly ash was studied by modern analytical methods. As a result of the hydrothermal reaction, several types of zeolites were synthesised from the fly ash: analcime, faujasite (zeolite X) and gismondine (zeolite P). It was shown that the experimental conditions (temperature, reaction time and alkali concentration) have a significant influence on the type of zeolite and its content in the reaction products. The series of experiments resulted in building approximate crystallisation field of zeolites and other phases as the first stage of the formation of ceramic membrane and other materials

Metaphorical Modeling of a War Situation

В статье рассматриваются особенности репрезентации военных событий в виртуальном пространстве. На примере политического персонального видеоблога демонстрируется процесс метафорического моделирования ситуации в период с 24.02.2022 г. по 24.02.2023 г. Показан потенциал блогосферы как способа потребления информации целевой интернет аудиторией.The article discusses the features of the representation of military events in the virtual space. The process of metaphorical modeling of the situation in the period from 02/24/2022 to 02/24/2023 is demonstrated using the example of a political personal videoblog. The potential of the blogosphere as a way of consuming information by the target Internet audience is shown

Restoring the valence-shell stabilization in Nd-140

A projectile Coulomb-excitation experiment was performed at the radioactive-ion beam facility HIE-ISOLDE at CERN to obtain E2 and M1 transition matrix elements of Nd-140 using the multistep Coulomb-excitation code GOSIA. The absolute M1 strengths, B(M1; 2(2)(-) -> 2(1)(+)) = 0.033(8)mu(2)(N), B(M1 ; 2(3)(+) -> 2(1)(+)) = 0.26(-0.10)(+0.11)mu(2)(N), and B(M1; 2(4)+ -> 2(1)(+)) <0.04 mu(2)(N) identify the 2(3)(+) state as the main fragment of the one-quadrupole-phonon proton-neutron mixed-symmetry state of Nd-140. The degree of F-spin mixing in Nd-140 was quantified with the determination of the mixing matrix element VF-mix <7(-7)(-13) keV.Peer reviewe

Search formixed-symmetry states of nuclei in the vicinity of the double-magic nucleus 208Pb

In this work we present the results from two experiments dedicated to search for quadrupolecollective isovector valence-shell excitation, the states with so-called mixed proton-neutron symmetry (MSS), in nuclei around the doubly magic nucleus 208Pb. 212Po was studied in an α-transfer reaction. 204Hg was studied in an inverse kinematics Coulomb excitation reaction on a carbon target. Both experiments provide indications for existence of one-phonon MSSs. Those are the first experimentally identified MSSs in the mass A ≈ 208 region

Lignin of ancient plant fossils

A comprehensive study of dispersed Early Carboniferous seeds has been carried out to test the possibilities of using chemosystematics for Paleozoic fossils. This has involved their morphology; the ultrastructure of ion thinned sections and their material. The results of analysis of the FTIR and EPR spectra indicate that the key structural unit of the substance is the phenyl propane structure. The presence of relict lignin (p‑coumaric type) was established by structural-chemical analysis using pyrolytic chromatomass-spectrometry. Lignins of this type are unknown in modern plants. The concentration of phenoxyl radicals is 2–3 orders of magnitude higher in the samples than in modern lignins

Molecular Diagnostics of ß-Thalassemia

A high-quality hemoglobinopathy diagnosis is based on the results of a number of tests including assays for molecular identification of causative mutations. We describe the current diagnostic strategy for the identification of b-thalassemias and hemoglobin (Hb) variants at the International Reference Laboratory for Haemoglobinopathies, Research Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (RCGEB) “Georgi D. Efremov,” Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. Our overall approach and most of the methods we use for detection of mutations are designed for the specific target population. We discuss new technical improvements that have allowed us to substantially reduce the average time necessary for reaching a conclusive diagnosis

New evidence for alpha clustering structure in the ground state band of ²¹²Po

Half-lives of the low-lying yrast states of 212Po have been measured using the delayed coincidence fast-timing method. We report on the first measurement of the 41+ half-life, as well as a new measurement of the 61+ half-life with improved accuracy compared to previous studies. The extracted lifetime of the 41+ and 61+ state have been determined to be 100(14) ps and 1.66(28) ns respectively. With these measurements, precise values are now available for the reduced transition strengths B(E2) of all ground state band levels in 212Po up to the first 8+ state, in particular B(E2; 41+→21+) = 9.4(13) W.u. and B(E2;61+→41+) = 8.7(15) W.u. Comparison of the new available data with an α-clustering model calculation provides evidence that the inclusion of the α-cluster degree of freedom significantly improves agreement with experimental data compared to earlier shell model calculations