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

Instantons and Yang-Mills Flows on Coset Spaces

We consider the Yang-Mills flow equations on a reductive coset space G/H and the Yang-Mills equations on the manifold R x G/H. On nonsymmetric coset spaces G/H one can introduce geometric fluxes identified with the torsion of the spin connection. The condition of G-equivariance imposed on the gauge fields reduces the Yang-Mills equations to phi^4-kink equations on R. Depending on the boundary conditions and torsion, we obtain solutions to the Yang-Mills equations describing instantons, chains of instanton-anti-instanton pairs or modifications of gauge bundles. For Lorentzian signature on R x G/H, dyon-type configurations are constructed as well. We also present explicit solutions to the Yang-Mills flow equations and compare them with the Yang-Mills solutions on R x G/H.Comment: 1+12 page

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

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.Este artículo analiza las experiencias únicas y los métodos de examen independiente del nivel de habilidades comunicativas (específicamente receptivas y productivas) del idioma inglés de los estudiantes universitarios de primer año que estudian inglés como primer idioma extranjero en una universidad rusa, que previamente aprobó el Examen estatal unificado (USO) en inglés. Los resultados analizados provienen de las pruebas que los estudiantes tomaron al comienzo de su primer año académico. Este estudio intenta sentar las bases para la transición al aprendizaje orientado a niveles o para introducir la diferenciación en grupos donde los niveles de los estudiantes varían ampliamente: de A1 a C1. La evaluación del dominio del idioma inglés de los estudiantes que estudian Filología, Lingüística, Estudios Regionales Extranjeros y Pedagogía se realizó en el formato del examen B2 First Cambridge (FCE). Los resultados de la evaluación se utilizaron para analizar su nivel de conocimiento de idiomas y habilidades lingüísticas de acuerdo con el Marco Común Europeo de Referencia para las Lenguas: Aprendizaje, Enseñanza, Evaluación (MCER). Se revelaron una serie de errores típicos cometidos por los estudiantes, en función de los cuales se les ofreció a los estudiantes, así como a sus maestros, una serie de recomendaciones para mejorar cada una de las habilidades

Association of polymorphism in the dopamine receptors and transporter genes with hyperprolactinemia in patients with schizophrenia

Background: Long-term antipsychotic drug use remains the mainstay of treatment for patients with schizophrenia. However, pharmacotherapy with these drugs is complicated by several troublesome side effects, including hyperprolactinemia (HP). Prolactin secretion is persistently inhibited by dopamine, and antipsychotic drugs are believed to increase prolactin release by blocking dopamine receptors in the pituitary gland. Genetic factors play an important role in the development of antipsychotic induced HP [1, 2]. Genes coding for dopamine receptors and transporters are considered to be responsible for HP in schizophrenia [3]. The present study aimed to investigate the role of polymorph-isms of the dopamine receptors and transporters genes (DRD1, DRD2, SLC6A3) in the pathogenesis of antipsychotic-related HP in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: 431 Russian patients with schizophrenia were examined. The average age of patients was 42.1 ± 1.4 years. Evaluation of serum prolactin level was performed by ELISA using reagents set PRL Test System (USA). Genotyping was carried out on 17 polymorphic variants of the dopamine receptors and transporters genes DRD1 (rs4532, rs936461), DRD2 (rs4245147, rs6279, rs2734842) and SLC6A3 (rs3756450, rs2550956, rs6347, rs2617605, rs3863145, rs250686, rs464049, rs4975646, rs1048953, rs11133767, rs27048, rs40184). The SPSS sof tware was used for statistical analysis. The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) of genotypic frequencies was tested by the chi-square test. Results: We studied the association between HP and a set of SNPs from DRD1, DRD2 receptor genes and neurotransmitter transporter SLC6A3 in patients from Siberia with a clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia who were treated with classical and/or atypical antipsychotic drugs. All patients with schizophrenia were divided into two groups: those with and without HP. Physiological normal results for the serum prolactin levels are less than 20 ng/ml in men, and less than 25 ng/ml in women. Statistically significant result was obtained for polymorphic variant rs2550956 of the gene SLC6A3 (χ2 = 9.992; p = 0.007), which suggests its involvement in the development of HP. The heterozygous genotype TC of rs2550956 was significantly less common in patients with elevated levels of prolactin and it presumably has protective properties (OR 0.54; 95% CI: 0.36-0.81). We did not find any statistically significant associations for other polymorphisms DRD1 (rs4532, rs936461), DRD2 (rs4245147, rs6279, rs2734842) and SLC6A3 (rs3756450, rs6347, rs2617605, rs3863145, rs250686, rs464049, rs4975646, rs1048953, rs11133767, rs27048, rs40184). The group of dopamine receptors is heterogeneous and only some of them participate in the formation of psychotic symptoms and, accord ingly, in the antipsychotic action of neuroleptics. The effect of neuroleptics on other groups of dopamine receptors leads to the development of different side effects including extrapyramidal disorders [4], and their role is extremely low in the formation of the actual therapeutic response. Conclusion: Our results indicate that genetic variants of SLC6A3 may have functional consequences on the modulation of prolactin secretion. Neurotransmitter systems are involved in the mechanisms of action of antipsychotic drugs; therefore, a further search for genetic markers associated with the development of antipsychotic-related hyperprolactinemia in schizophrenic patients is needed