Assessment and Development of Communicative Skills in English: A Case Study of 1st Year Undergraduate Students Learning English As Their Major

This article discusses the unique experiences and methods of independent examination of the level of communicative (specifically receptive and productive) English language skills of the first year undergraduate students studying English as the first foreign language in a Russian university, who previously passed the Unified State Exam (USE) in English. The results analyzed came from the tests the students took at the beginning of their first academic year. This study attempts to lay the foundations for the transition to level-oriented learning or to introduce differentiation in groups where students’ levels range widely – from A1 to C1. The assessment of the English language proficiency of students studying Philology, Linguistics, Foreign Regional Studies, and Pedagogy was carried out in the format the B2 First Cambridge exam (FCE). The results of the assessment were used to analyze their level of language knowledge and language skills according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR). A number of typical mistakes made by students were revealed, based on which the students as well as their teachers were offered a number of recommendations to improve each of the skills

The Effect of Adding Calcium Stearate on Wear-resistance of Ultra-high Molecular Weight Polyethylene

AbstractIn order to find an effective solid lubrication filler for the composites based on ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, tribotechnical properties of UHMWPE and its blends with calcium stearate (С36Н70СаО4, CS) under dry friction, boundary lubrication and abrasion were studied. It is demonstrated that wear rate of UHMWPE-CS compositions under dry sliding friction decreases by more than 4 times as compared to pure UHMWPE while the mechanicals properties do not change substantially. Under abrasion conditions the wear rate of the stated composites rises with the increased content of the filler. The optimal filler weight fraction is determined in terms of ensuring maximum wear resistance. The wear mechanisms of UHMWPE-based polymer compounds with a solid lubrication filler under dry sliding friction conditions and abrasion are discussed

Rheological and physical–chemical properties of yogurt with oat–chia seeds composites

Currently chia seeds (Salvia hispanica L.) are considered as a filler of functional food. However, ground chia seeds have a low viscosity and cohesion properties that are limited its applications. Based on previous data oat-chia seeds composites in different proportions as filler for yogurt have been tested. The investigation of water holding capacity of samples allowed to select the yogurt with filler in the ratio of 1:1 (oat bran:chia seed) in the amount of 3% and 5% as the most close to the control sample without any filler. The rheological characteristics of yogurt samples were investigated and their thixotropic and viscoelastic properties were identified depending on the amount of filler in the product. The yogurt without any filler had the less thixotropic properties in compare with yogurt with oat-chia seeds composites. The structure recovery of yogurt with 3% and 5% filler was close to 100% and greater than 100% respectively. Based on the data of G' and G" moduli was possible to ascertain the yogurt with filler has more viscoelastic properties compared with yogurt without filler. Yogurt with 5% filler exceeds yogurt without filler in biological value according to the content of essential amino acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids

Immunoprophylaxis of infectious diseases in children during the COVID-19 pandemic

Summary. Restrictive rules during the COVID-19 pandemic and the desire to minimize children’s contact have reduced the coverage of routine vaccinations in all age groups. Interruptions in routine immunization can lead to outbreaks of vaccine-control infectious diseases, which will be an additional burden on the public health care system overloaded by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this situation, the role of medical staff as a source of objective information with the involvement of all motivational potential is exacerbated. The aim of the study – to analyze the parents’ adherence to immunization with the definition of the role and place of various information sources of immunoprophylaxis, including health care professionals. Materials and Methods. To achieve this goal, we conducted an anonymous survey of 87 parents whose children were hospitalized at the Chernivtsi Regional Children's Clinical Hospital or sought outpatient care at the Chernivtsi City Children's Polyclinic using a developed questionnaire containing 14 questions with answer options. Results. The bigger part of parents (82 %) expressed a positive attitude to vaccination during the survey, the part of parents who have an ambiguous attitude to vaccination, so far refuse and those who have a negative attitude to some vaccines, reaches 16 %. The study also shows a certain imbalance between the personal vaccination history of parents and the history of vaccination of their own children. According to the parents’ view (79 %), the most important sources of information on immunization should be health workers, while the survey shows that the part of parents who receive the necessary information about the benefits of vaccination in medical institutions were 14 % lower and amounted to 65 %. Conclusions. The paper shows positive parents’ adherence to vaccination and a high level of their trust in health care professionals as a source of relevant information. Health care professionals do not make full use of their own "vaccination potential" and in some cases are sources of negative information about vaccination. There is an urgent necessity in educational work of health care professionals to increase the population's adherence to immunization, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemi

Enhanced Group Analysis and Exact Solutions of Variable Coefficient Semilinear Diffusion Equations with a Power Source

A new approach to group classification problems and more general investigations on transformational properties of classes of differential equations is proposed. It is based on mappings between classes of differential equations, generated by families of point transformations. A class of variable coefficient (1+1)-dimensional semilinear reaction-diffusion equations of the general form $f(x)u_t=(g(x)u_x)_x+h(x)u^m$ ($m\ne0,1$) is studied from the symmetry point of view in the framework of the approach proposed. The singular subclass of the equations with $m=2$ is singled out. The group classifications of the entire class, the singular subclass and their images are performed with respect to both the corresponding (generalized extended) equivalence groups and all point transformations. The set of admissible transformations of the imaged class is exhaustively described in the general case $m\ne2$. The procedure of classification of nonclassical symmetries, which involves mappings between classes of differential equations, is discussed. Wide families of new exact solutions are also constructed for equations from the classes under consideration by the classical method of Lie reductions and by generation of new solutions from known ones for other equations with point transformations of different kinds (such as additional equivalence transformations and mappings between classes of equations).Comment: 40 pages, this is version published in Acta Applicanda Mathematica

Criterion A of the AMPD in HiTOP

The categorical model of personality disorder classification in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed. [DSM-5]; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) is highly and fundamentally problematic. Proposed for DSM-5 and provided within Section III (for Emerging Measures and Models) was the Alternative Model of Personality Disorder (AMPD) classification, consisting of Criterion A (self-interpersonal deficits) and Criterion B (maladaptive personality traits). A proposed alternative to the DSM-5 more generally is an empirically based dimensional organization of psychopathology identified as the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP; Kotov etal., 2017). HiTOP currently includes, at the highest level, a general factor of psychopathology. Further down are the five domains of detachment, antagonistic externalizing, disinhibited externalizing, thought disorder, and internalizing (along with a provisional sixth somatoform dimension) that align with Criterion B. The purpose of this article is to discuss the potential inclusion and placement of the self-interpersonal deficits of the DSM-5 Section III Criterion A within HiTOP