Virtual reality technologies for learning English: an example of using Immerse

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of using the Immerse virtual reality technology as an additional tool for learning English. The sample consisted of 120 students randomly selected from the lists of third-year students studying English as a foreign language according to their bachelor’s degree curriculum. The overall sample was divided into two groups. Immerse was a virtual reality technology used for training in an experimental group for three months. The results showed that in the experimental group, there was a significant difference between the pre-test and the post-test (0.35<0.05). In the control group, there were no relevant changes. In particular, these data show that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in terms of academic performance in English. However, some of the tasks that tested writing skills showed unsatisfactory results. In general, although virtual reality (VR) does not affect students’ writing skills, its use is crucial for their long-term memorization

Melanotan-II reverses autistic features in a maternal immune activation mouse model of autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interactions, difficulty with communication, and repetitive behavior patterns. In humans affected by ASD, there is a male pre-disposition towards the condition with a male to female ratio of 4:1. In part due to the complex etiology of ASD including genetic and environmental interplay, there are currently no available medical therapies to improve the social deficits of ASD. Studies in rodent models and humans have shown promising therapeutic effects of oxytocin in modulating social adaptation. One pharmacological approach to stimulating oxytocinergic activity is the melanocortin receptor 4 agonist Melanotan-II (MT-II). Notably the effects of oxytocin on environmental rodent autism models has not been investigated to date. We used a maternal immune activation (MIA) mouse model of autism to assess the therapeutic potential of MT-II on autism-like features in adult male mice. The male MIA mice exhibited autism-like features including impaired social behavioral metrics, diminished vocal communication, and increased repetitive behaviors. Continuous administration of MT-II to male MIA mice over a seven-day course resulted in rescue of social behavioral metrics. Normal background C57 male mice treated with MT-II showed no significant alteration in social behavioral metrics. Additionally, there was no change in anxiety-like or repetitive behaviors following MT-II treatment of normal C57 mice, though there was significant weight loss following subacute treatment. These data demonstrate MT-II as an effective agent for improving autism-like behavioral deficits in the adult male MIA mouse model of autism

The Threat and Fear of War: The State and Politics in American Mass Media

The cultivation of political fears of the state and radical change of attitudes in the minds of people is possible in certain socio-political and economic conditions and massive propaganda in the mass media. The concept of political fear is insufficiently studied in psycholinguistics. This article is dedicated to exploring the political fears of the state in the modern American mass media. This research uses hypothetical-deductive and inductive methods, methods of definitional, interpretative and subjective analysis, and content analysis. It is found that in the modern American mass media, political fear of the state is revealed in fear of war and competition. To verbalize the horror of war and struggle, politicians in power use various tactics of agonal function as the main means of impact on opponents

Ontogenetic oxycodone exposure affects early life communicative behaviors, sensorimotor reflexes, and weight trajectory in mice

Nationwide, opioid misuse among pregnant women has risen four-fold from 1999 to 2014, with commensurate increase in neonates hospitalized for neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). NAS occurs when a fetus exposed to opioid

The Threat and Fear of War — The State and Politics in American Mass Media

The cultivation of political fears of the state and radical change of attitudes in the minds of people is possible in certain socio-political and economic conditions and massive propaganda in the mass media. The concept of political fear is insufficiently studied in psycholinguistics. This article is dedicated to exploring the political fears of the state in the modern American mass media. This research uses hypothetical-deductive and inductive methods, methods of definitional, interpretative and subjective analysis, and content analysis. It is found that in the modern American mass media, political fear of the state is revealed in fear of war and competition. To verbalize the horror of war and struggle, politicians in power use various tactics of agonal function as the main means of impact on opponents

AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318-target study

: High throughput screening (HTS) is routinely used to identify bioactive small molecules. This requires physical compounds, which limits coverage of accessible chemical space. Computational approaches combined with vast on-demand chemical libraries can access far greater chemical space, provided that the predictive accuracy is sufficient to identify useful molecules. Through the largest and most diverse virtual HTS campaign reported to date, comprising 318 individual projects, we demonstrate that our AtomNet® convolutional neural network successfully finds novel hits across every major therapeutic area and protein class. We address historical limitations of computational screening by demonstrating success for target proteins without known binders, high-quality X-ray crystal structures, or manual cherry-picking of compounds. We show that the molecules selected by the AtomNet® model are novel drug-like scaffolds rather than minor modifications to known bioactive compounds. Our empirical results suggest that computational methods can substantially replace HTS as the first step of small-molecule drug discovery

Melanotan-II reverses autistic features in a maternal immune activation mouse model of autism

This study compares social behavior (e.g. vocalizing, grooming) in impaired and non-impaired mice. It also compares the response of mice who receive the drug treatment to those who do not

The Effectiveness of Listening and Speaking Activities in Developing Students' Communicative Competence When Learning a Foreign Language

The purpose of the study is to assess students` level of communicative competencies when learning a foreign language on the basis of which to substantiate the effectiveness of listening and speaking activities in the development of students' communicative competencies when learning a foreign language. The survey was based on teachers and students of Far Eastern Federal University (Russia) were surveyed; there were thirty-five university teachers and 240 first- and second-year students aged 18-20 took. The results of the study showed that students have difficulty in speaking, which necessitates the introduction of effective listening and speaking practices into the curriculum. The results also were based on the fact that teachers confirmed poor communicative skills of students and outlined various speaking activities in the study of a foreign language, which can contribute to the development of students' communicative competencies. The experimental stage of the study focused on the implementation of the pedagogical model showed that in the experimental group there was a rapid decrease in the number of students with the low level of competencies (from 25.25% to 11.62%) and an increase in the number of students with the high (up to 36.87%) and average (up to 51.52%) levels of competencies. Practical significance of the study is explained by the ability to use the developed tests to determine the level of students' communication skills, and the developed program can be used to develop and improve listening and speaking skills. The prospects for further research can be based on the opportunity to define the role of psychological and pedagogical disciplines in the formation of students' communicative competencies, develop scientific and methodological support for the formation of communicative competencies in the course of studying special disciplines