Personalizing the Way of Teaching LSP

Introduction. The problem of effective teaching language for special purposes (LSP) to the students of non-linguistic professions has been discussed for a long time and in full details by academicians both in Russia and foreign countries. As the result of multiple and thorough surveys general problems of the given situation have been revealed, the way out being defined as special training/retraining of LSP teachers. But in language education publications it is hardly possible to find the description of the program aiming at the training of the above mentioned teachers. The aim of the article is to present effective approaches to teaching LSP and offer the developed master program “Methods of teaching LSP” as a means to solve the problems mentioned above. Materials and Methods. The research methods used are a combination of analytical review of studies by Russian and foreign researchers and interpretation of the results obtained by interviewing university teachers specializing in teaching foreign languages to students completing Bachelorʼs or Masterʼs degree programs. The survey was conducted to assess the level of readiness of professional educators to design the structure and content of programs for teaching LSP, and actually conduct classes within the specified language-teaching area, 81 teachers being responders. Results. As a result of the undertaken review of theoretical works and analysis of the conducted survey a master program “Methods of teaching LSP” was designed for training graduates who will then teach English or Russian as a foreign language at industry-specific higher schools. The developed program focuses on instructing future LSP educators to work out a personalized educational route adjusted to the level of foreign language skills of a student and their prospective professional activities. Discussion and Conclusion. The master program developed by the authors as well as the content of the subjects suggested as its integral part are expected to become a productive way of training LSP educators who are supposed to acquire a number of special skills and competences described in the article. Distant learning and e-learning technologies are also engaged in the program to facilitate learners’ more efficient independent activities. The master program is seen as one of the means of modernizing LSP teachers’ professional training which meets the long-term needs of the Russian education system

Anti-persister and Anti-biofilm Activity of Self-Assembled Antimicrobial Peptoid Ellipsoidal Micelles

[Image: see text] Although persister cells are the root cause of resistance development and relapse of chronic infections, more attention has been focused on developing antimicrobial agents against resistant bacterial strains than on developing anti-persister agents. Frustratingly, the global preclinical antibacterial pipeline does not include any anti-persister drug. Therefore, the central point of this work is to explore antimicrobial peptidomimetics called peptoids (sequence-specific oligo-N-substituted glycines) as a new class of anti-persister drugs. In this study, we demonstrate that one particular antimicrobial peptoid, the sequence-specific pentamer TM5, is active against planktonic persister cells and sterilizes biofilms formed by both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Moreover, we demonstrate the potential of TM5 to inhibit cytokine production induced by lipopolysaccharides from Gram-negative bacteria. We anticipate that this work can pave the way to the development of new anti-persister agents based on antimicrobial peptoids of this class to simultaneously help address the crisis of bacterial resistance and reduce the occurrence of the relapse of chronic infections

Project Work Management Addressing the Needs of BVI Learners of EFL

Introduction: it is known that inclusive education that opens access to education and facilitates students with special educational needs to socialize successfully is concentrated in special schools whilst mainstream teachers generally lack the methodology of teaching disabled students inclusively. The aim of the article is searching the best ways of educating students with special needs and providing specific conditions of the educational process in mainstream schools. Materials and Methods: the research is based on the results of fulfillment of a number of projects that deal with teaching and educating blind and visually impaired learners and in which all the authors of the article were involved. The problematic approach, the logical method and observation were applied to the research; analysis, comparison, generalization being the most important components of the study. The quantitative data were collected, analyzed and resumed as well. Results: the impact of project work implementation on academic and social skills development of blind and visually impaired students is shown and various types of projects that can be made by visually impaired learners are presented. The authors give their comments when analyzing different ways of adapting research activities to the needs of BVI learners. When speaking in detail on the role of web tools as maximizers of students’ potential the authors refer to their own experience in implementing web tools in project work with blind and visually impaired learners. Discussion and Conclusions: university teacher-training programs should be revised and improved by offering additional courses aimed at educating impaired students through doing research or project work. Special attention should be paid to developing the instructors’ project management skills in terms of teaching English as a foreign language to learners with special needs. It should be noted that different methods and various technological tools are to be used in order to develop research and creative skills of blind and visually impaired learners in an EFL classroom. The article itself, its references and links can be used within the course of lectures and seminars on Methodology of Teaching Foreign Languages, and can also be applied when developing a course of re-training of in-service teachers with particular focus on teaching foreign languages to students (pupils) with special educational needs

Hemodynamics in renal transplant in children with various morphological changes in the long-term post-transplant period

Introduction. Ultrasound scanning is one of the main methods of instrumental examination of patients after allogenic transplantation of kidney. The main reasons of dysfunction of the kidney transplant in long post-transplantation term are acute or chronic rejection, as well as acute and chronic nephrotoxicity of calcineurin inhibitors.Objective. Assessment of dopplerographic indicators of the blood flow throughout the transplanted kidney vessels in patients with preserved nitrogen excretion function under various morphological changes.Materials and methods. The study includes an analysis of the medical history of 98 children with end-stage chronic renal failure who underwent 98 allogeneic kidney transplants from a posthumous donor. There were analyzed the results of 185 percutaneous puncture biopsies and ultrasound studies of renal transplants. The analyzed data of morphological studies are divided into 4 groups. 1st group – there are no morphological changes affecting graft function. 2nd group – morphological signs of calcineurin toxicity. 3rd group – borderline damage of the graft. 4th group – acute and chronic graft rejection.Results and discussion. Indices of resistance and pulsation measured at the level of the renal artery and interlobular arteries tended to decrease in the kidneys with immunological influence and remained stable in other morphological groups. This means that, the higher the degree of hyalinosis of the arteries, the lower the indices of resistance and pulsation indices measured at the level of the common renal artery and interlobular arteries.Conclusions. The revealed tendency of a decrease in the values of the resistance index and the pulsation index at the level of the common renal artery of the interlobular arteries can be considered as one of the initial ultrasound signs that allow to speak of a decrease in the elasticity of the vascular wall. Normal indices of renal hemodynamics do not exclude the presence of pathological processes leading to graft dysfunction

Mineral metabolism in European children living with a renal transplant: a European society for paediatric nephrology/european renal association-European dialysis and transplant association registry study

Data on mineral metabolism in pediatric renal transplant recipients largely arise from small single-center studies. In adult patients, abnormal mineral levels are related to a higher risk of graft failure. This study used data from the European Society for Paediatric Nephrology/European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association Registry to study the prevalence and potential determinants of mineral abnormalities, as well as the predictive value of a disturbed mineral level on graft survival in a large cohort of European pediatric renal transplant recipients

Mineral Metabolism in European Children Living with a Renal Transplant: A European Society for Paediatric Nephrology/European Renal Association–European Dialysis and Transplant Association Registry Study

Background and objectives Data on mineral metabolism in pediatric renal transplant recipients largely arise from small single-center studies. In adult patients, abnormal mineral levels are related to a higher risk of graft failure. This study used data from the European Society for Paediatric Nephrology/European Renal Association–European Dialysis and Transplant Association Registry to study the prevalence and potential determinants of mineral abnormalities, as well as the predictive value of a disturbed mineral level on graft survival in a large cohort of European pediatric renal transplant recipients.Design, setting, participants, & measurements This study included 1237 children (0–17 years) from 10 European countries, who had serum calcium, phosphorus, and parathyroid hormone measurements from 2000 onward. Abnormalities of mineral metabolism were defined according to European guidelines on prevention and treatment of renal osteodystrophy in children on chronic renal failure.Results Abnormal serum phosphorus levels were observed in 25% (14% hypophosphatemia and 11% hyperphosphatemia), altered serum calcium in 30% (19% hypocalcemia, 11% hypercalcemia), and hyperparathyroidism in 41% of the patients. A longer time since transplantation was associated with a lower risk of having mineral levels above target range. Serum phosphorus levels were inversely associated with eGFR, and levels above the recommended targets were associated with a higher risk of graft failure independently of eGFR.Conclusions Abnormalities in mineral metabolism are common after pediatric renal transplantation in Europe and are associated with graft dysfunction

Growth Patterns After Kidney Transplantation in European Children Over the Past 25 Years

Background. Improved management of growth impairment might have resulted in less growth retardation after pediatric kidney transplantation (KT) over time. We aimed to analyze recent longitudinal growth data after KT in comparison to previous eras, its determinants, and the association with transplant outcome in a large cohort of transplanted children using data from the European Society for Paediatric Nephrology/European Renal Association and European Dialysis and Transplant Association Registry. Methods. A total of 3492 patients transplanted before 18 years from 1990 to 2012 were included. Height SD scores (SDS) were calculated using recent national or European growth charts. We used generalized equation models to estimate the prevalence of growth deficit and linear mixed models to calculate adjusted mean height SDS. Results. Mean adjusted height post-KT was −1.77 SDS. Height SDS was within normal range in 55%, whereas 28% showed moderate, and 17% severe growth deficit. Girls were significantly shorter than boys, but catch-up growth by 5 years post-KT was observed in both boys and girls. Children 12. Conclusions. Catch-up growth post-KT remains limited, height SDS did not improve over time, resulting in short stature in nearly half of transplanted children in Europe

Pediatr Nephrol

BACKGROUND: Associations between anthropometric measures and patient outcomes in children are inconsistent and mainly based on data at kidney replacement therapy (KRT) initiation. We studied associations of height and body mass index (BMI) with access to kidney transplantation, graft failure, and death during childhood KRT. METHODS: We included patients  1.88. Underweight, overweight and obesity were calculated using age and sex-specific BMI for height-age criteria. Associations with outcomes were assessed using multivariable Cox models with time-dependent covariates. RESULTS: We included 11,873 patients. Likelihood of transplantation was lower for short (aHR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.78-0.86), tall (aHR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.56-0.75), and underweight patients (aHR: 0.79, 95%CI: 0.71-0.87). Compared with normal height, patients with short and tall statures showed higher graft failure risk. All-cause mortality risk was higher in short (aHR: 2.30, 95% CI: 1.92-2.74), but not in tall stature. Underweight (aHR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.38-2.23) and obese (aHR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.11-1.99) patients showed higher all-cause mortality risk than normal weight subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Short and tall stature and being underweight were associated with a lower likelihood of receiving a kidney allograft. Mortality risk was higher among pediatric KRT patients with a short stature or those being underweight or obese. Our results highlight the need for careful nutritional management and multidisciplinary approach for these patients. A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information

Alirocumab and cardiovascular outcomes after acute coronary syndrome

BACKGROUN