Creating a business English course

In this quickly globalizing world, a broad world view and a good command of English is becoming more and more important. Tartu Miina Härma Gümnaasium aims to prepare students for this and provides many elective courses, Business English being one of them. The aim of this MA thesis is to design a Business English course for Tartu Miina Härma Gümnaasium that focuses on subject matter and Business English related vocabulary which makes it a fusion of English for Special Purposes (ESP) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) course. ESP is an approach where English as a language is central but it is taught within a certain subject area (for example, English for Doctors or Business English); CLIL is an approach where a subject is taught in the target language and students learn both the subject matter and the language at the same time. The course that is meant for 12th graders consists of six units (“Corporate image and supply”, “Marketing”, “Risk management”, “Free trade”, “Investing”, “Working life”) over 60 lessons and its materials come from different Business English textbooks and some are created by the author of this thesis. Modular format with some cyclical course format’s characteristics is used as course outline – this means that the topics do not have to be in a certain order because there is little cumulative knowledge between the topics but revisiting previous topics is done wherever possible. A lot of attention is given to revising vocabulary as this helps students to remember new vocabulary better.https://www.ester.ee/record=b5426842*es

Metsade majandamise mõju hindamine süsiniku kontekstis: turbulentse kovariatsiooni meetod

A Thesis for applying for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry.Boreal forest, being a widely distributed vegetation type as well being a substantial part of the global carbon (C) cycle, must be addressed to understand the consequences of climate change. Forest ecosystems are part of the biosphere as a whole and have a role in maintaining global equilibrium. Also, forest ecosystems have the ability to regulate Earth´s climate and energy fluxes. The forests, including boreal and hemiboreal forests, can absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and store carbon in biomass. This kind of ecosystem study is conducted by the widely used eddy covariance (EC) method. It is the most adequate way to measure net ecosystem exchange (NEE) between ground and atmosphere. EC is a direct micrometeorological measurement method for identifying C-fluxes in forest ecosystems. Clear-cutting changes the forest ecosystem C-balance. It is assumed that immediately after a clearcut, a huge amount of C is released, which make a forest stand act as a C-source. The time necessary for forest ecosystem recovery after clear-cutting also depends on the choice of regeneration method. Natural regeneration usually takes more time than artificial regeneration by planting or sowing and the proper regeneration method may shorten the recovery period. In Estonia, clear-cutting is the common forest management practice followed by planting to establish the new forest generation. Planting may speed up revegetation that increases C sequestration. Thus, proper forest management practices provide important strategies to mitigate global climate change. After clear-cutting, a 5-year-old mixed stand acted as C-neutral forest ecosystem during the measurement period (May to August). In the 6- and 8-year-old study stands, the ecosystem showed already C-sink status during the measurement period (June to September). Literature review showed that after clear-cutting, recovery to C-sink status could take 10 years and in some cases even 20 years. Forest recovery after wildfire may take up to 50 years and most likely even more. Measurements after insect outbreaks and windstorm disturbance detected recovery after 3 to 6 years; however there were few such studies and more research is needed for further comparisons.Boreaalsed metsad katavad maakeral kõige suurema maa-ala, olles seega ka suur osa globaalsest süsinikuringest. Sellele tuginedes kannavad boreaalsed metsad ka suuremat rolli kliimamuutustes. Metsade ökosüsteemid on osa biosfäärist ja globaalses mõttes olulised, säilitades märkimisväärset osa elusloodusest. Samuti on metsadel täita tähtis roll: võime reguleerida maakera kliimat ja energiavooge. Nii boreaalsed kui ka hemiboreaalsed metsad on võimelised atmosfäärist süsinikku siduma ja säilitama seda biomassis. Metsaökosüsteemi uurimiseks on võimalik kasutada täpset ja usaldusväärset turbulentse kovariatsiooni meetodit. Selle meetodi abil saab mõõta ökosüsteemi neto süsinikuvahetust (Net Ecosystem Exchange, NEE) maapinna ja atmosfääri vahel. See on otsene meetod ökosüsteemi energiavoogude tuvastamiseks. Pärast lageraiet metsaökosüsteemi süsinikubilanss muutub. On eeldatud, et kohe pärast sellist häiringut paisatakse suur kogus süsinikku õhku ja ökosüsteem muutub süsinikku eralduvaks. Metsaökosüsteemi taastumiseks kuluv aeg sõltub metsa valitud metsa uuendamise viisist. Taastumine loodusliku uuenemise korral võtab tavaliselt rohkem aega kui uuendamine istutamise ja külvi teel. Eestis enim kasutatud metsauuendamise võte on lageraie, millele järgneb uue metsapõlvkonna istutamine. Istutamise kaudu saab kiirendada metsaala uuendamist, mis omakorda võib suurendada süsinikusidumise potentsiaali. Oskuslikult metsi majandades on võimalik kliimamuutusi leevendada ja temperatuuritõusu pidurdada. Uuritud viieaastane noor puistu oli mõõtmisperioodi vältel süsinikuneutraalne. Kuue- ja kaheksa-aastased metsaökosüsteemid näitasid mõõtmisperioodil süsinikusiduja rolli. Ülevaateartiklis käsitletud erinevate kirjandusallikate fookus oli suunatud metsaökosüsteemi süsinikubilansi taastumisele ja selleks kuluvale ajale erinevate häiringute järgselt. Kokkuvõttes võib selleks aega kuluda kuni kümme aastat pärast lageraiet, mõnel juhul aga kuni 20 aastat. Pärast põlengut kulub metsaalal taastumiseks märksa kauem aega, vähemalt 50 aastat. Putukarüüstete ja tormide korral näitavad mõõtmistulemused kolme kuni kuue aasta pikkust taastumisaega, kuid väheste teadusuuringute tõttu pole võimalik põhjapanevaid järeldusi teha.Publication of this dissertation is supported by the Estonian University of Life Sciences

Affinity capillary electrophoretic study of K+/Na+ selectivity of hexaarylbenzene-based polyaromatic receptor

Affinity capillary electrophoretic (ACE) study has proved the selectivity of hexaarylbenzene-based polyaromatic receptor (R) for K+ ion over Na+ ion. The apparent binding constants of the R complexes with K+ and Na+ ions were determined from the dependence of effective electrophoretic mobility of R on the concentration of the above alkali metal ions in the background electrolyte using a non-linear regression analysis. The apparent binding constants (Kb) of the K-R+ and Na–R+ complexes in methanolic medium were evaluated as log Kb = 3.20 ± 0.22 for the K–R+ complex, and log Kb≅−0.7 for the Na–R+ complex

Vaksiklaste ökoloogia võrdlevad uuringud parasvöötme ja troopilises metsas

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioonePutukate mitmekesisus on erakordselt suur, kuid me teame nende kohta vähe. Töö peamiseks eesmärgiks oli uurida ja võrrelda parasvöötme (Eesti) ja troopika (Uganda) metsaökosüsteemist pärit vaksiklaste (Geometridae) elukäike. Ööliblikate hulka kuuluvaid vaksiklasi on umbes 24000 kirjeldatud liiki, nende ökoloogiat ja kujunemist tuntakse pigem vähe, eriti troopikas. Andmeid koguti ligi 250 liigi kohta ning uuritud liikidele koostati originaalandmetel põhinev fülogeneesipuu. Andmeanalüüsis kasutati liikidevahelist sugulust arvesse võtvaid meetodeid. Troopikas uuriti 15 sagedase puuliigi sobivust vastkoorunud röövikute toiduks. Sarnaselt parasvöötmega leidus ka troopikas vaksikuliike, kes toitusid samaaegselt mitmest sugukonnast pärit taimeliikidest. Parasvöötme vaksikuliikide põhjal näidati, et munemiseelne ooteaeg vangistuses on pikem nendel liikidel, kelle järglased toituvad väiksemast arvust taimedest. Kuna troopiliste liikide toidutaimed ei ole enamasti teada, siis kasutati munemiseelset ooteaega, et uurida, kas ja millisel määral erineb kasutatav toidutaimede arv parasvöötmes ja troopikas. Leiti, et ooteajad on mõlemas piirkonnas sarnased. Tulemused lubavad arvata, toiduks kasutatav taimede arv on mõlemas piirkonnas sarnane. Leiti, et troopilised liigid on raskemad. Massierinevused tulenevad rindmikute suurematest massidest, mis omakorda viitab paremale lennuvõimele. Lisaks leiti veel, troopilised liigid munevad väiksemaid mune kui parasvöötme liigid, mistõttu on ilmselt ka vastkoorunud röövikud troopikas väiksemad. Parasvöötme ja troopika vaksikuliikide valmikute keskmised eluead on sarnased. Tulemused näitasid, et suuremad liigid elavad kauem kui väiksemad liigid. Troopikas on palju valmikutoitu (puuviljad ja õienektar), kuid tulusigimine, st paljunemisstrateegia, mille puhul on paljunemisedukus sõltuv valmikuelu jooksul hangitud ressurssidest, ei olnud troopikas rohkem levinud kui parasvöötmes. Töö tulemuste põhjal võib järeldada, et toidutaimekasutus, eluiga ja paljunemisstrateegia on troopika ja parasvöötme uuritud piirkonna vaksiklastel pigem sarnased. Maailm, mida liigid kogevad, ja tegurid, mis kujundavad nende elukäiku, ei pruugi parasvöötmes ja troopikas olla nii erinevad, nagu enamasti arvatakse.Insects are extremely diverse and we still know relatively little about them. The major aim of this thesis was to compare lives of moth species from the family Geometridae from a temperate and a tropical forest ecosystem. Worldwide there are approximately 24 000 described geometrid species, but we do not know much about the tropical species. For about 250 temperate and tropical region geometrid species, data on host-plant specificity, longevity and breeding strategy were collected. A phylogeny was derived for these species and the collected data compared in phylogenetically informed analyses. The suitability of 15 common tree species as food for freshly hatched caterpillars was tested in host-plant acceptance trials and the larval diet breadth of tropical and temperate species was compared. There were broadly polyphagous species in both regions. For temperate species it was shown that oviposition latency (i.e. pre-oviposition waiting time of a female) in captivity was longer for those geometrid species that have a narrower larval diet breadth. This result provided the possibility to use oviposition latency as an indirect measure of host specificity for the tropical region, where the host plants are not known. When oviposition latency was compared between temperate and tropical regions the waiting times were found to be similar. These results suggest that host-plant specificity is similar in both regions. Tropical species were found to be heavier than temperate ones; the difference is probably caused by the large wings and flying muscles of tropical species, which increase mobility in dense and diverse tropical vegetation. Compared to temperate females, tropical females lay smaller eggs. Therefore, it is also possible, that freshly hatched larvae are smaller in the tropical region. Adult lifespans of wild-caught individuals were found to be similar for both regions. Larger species were shown to have longer lifespans. Opposite to the predictions, the stable supply of adult food in the tropics (fruit and nectar) did not increase adult lifespans. Neither was income breeding strategy (i.e. breeding strategy depending on adult-derived resources) found to be more prevalent in the tropics than in temperate habitats. The results of this thesis suggest that host-plant specificity, longevity and breeding strategy are similar for the studied temperate and tropical moths. Quite opposite to expectations, the world the moths experience and the factors that shape their life histories may not be so different for the tropical and temperate zones after all.https://www.ester.ee/record=b5260160~S

On Crits and Games—and Crits as Games

Source at https://parsejournal.com/.A conversation between artist and educator Sille Storihle and the Krabstadt Education Center (KEC) about overlapping interests in educational models and games. Issues discussed are the role of games in education, experiences with the format of the group crit, and the question whether it is still a solid component of arts education or how it could be deployed differently. Storihle shares their work with live-action role-playing games (LARP, verb to larp) as an artistic method to approach filmic processes with a focus on a practical pedagogical project they did with students at the experimental film and art school Nordland Kunst- og Filmhøgskole in Northern Norway—whose geographic location is similar to Krabstadt’s