Mobile Foreign Language Learning with Podcasts

Mobiles Lernen im Bereich des Fremdsprachenlernens kann in unzähligen Lernsettings und anhand unterschiedlicher Anwendungsszenarien erfolgen. Im Fokus des vorliegenden Beitrags steht das mobile Fremdsprachenlernen mit Podcasts. In dem Beitrag wird zunächst auf theoretische Grundlagen des mobilen Fremdsprachenlernens und den aktuellen Forschungsstand zum Fremdsprachenlernen mit Podcasts eingegangen. Anschliessend wird die Konzeption einer explorativ angelegten Fragebogenstudie erläutert, die am Sprachenzentrum der TU Darmstadt durchgeführt wurde, um zu ermitteln, wie Podcasts von Studenten/-innen zum Fremdsprachenlernen genutzt werden und welche Wünsche es diesbezüglich gibt. Darauf aufbauend werden ausgewählte Befragungsergebnisse in Bezug auf die Nutzung von mobilen Endgeräten und von Podcasts zum Fremdsprachenlernen dargestellt und diskutiert. Zum Schluss werden Konsequenzen für mögliche Anwendungsszenarien innerhalb und ausserhalb des Fremdsprachenunterrichts gezogen.Mobile learning in the field of learning foreign languages may take place in different settings and in various application scenarios. The following article focuses on the mobile learning of foreign languages by means of podcasts. The paper describes firstly the theoretical foundations of mobile foreign language learning and reports the current state of research on using podcasts in learning foreign languages. Subsequently the design of the exploratory questionnaire survey, conducted among students at the Language Centre of TU Darmstadt, will be explained. The survey was carried out in order to find out, how podcasts are used by students to learn foreign languages and what kind of wishes they have in connection with this. Building on this, the selected survey results concerning the use of mobile devices and podcasts to learn foreign languages will be presented and discussed. On this basis, the consequences for possible application scenarios in and outside the foreign language classroom will be drawn here as well

Are animal-related injuries in rural areas a social problem? A survey from Poland

Objective The aim of this study was to analyze the mechanisms of animal-related injuries in Polish rural areas, and to evaluate the effects of such injuries on subjects’ health and social life Material and Methods Data concerning animal-related injuries were collected from 102 patients (45 females and 57 males, mean age 45.01±11.4 years) on the basis of a questionnaire. The study was conducted in the rural area of central Poland. Moreover, to assess the severity of injuries to the head and neck region, the Facial Injury Severity Scale (FISS) was applied. Results The most commonly affected body areas are the upper and lower limbs, which explains the fact that most subjects do not recognize the injury-related deformity as an aesthetic defect.Statistical correlations were observed in several aspects, amongst others: – women were significantly more likely than men to consider undergoing surgical procedures to eliminate/reduce post-traumatic deformities and scars (p<0.05); – injury-related deterioration in appearance resulted in limitations of patients’ social life (p<0.0001)

The effect of chronic tianeptine administration on the brain mitochondria : direct links with an animal model of depression

A growing body of evidence has focused on the impact of mitochondrial disturbances in the development of depression, but little data exist regarding the effects of chronic administration of antidepressant drugs on the brain’s mitochondrial protein profile. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of chronic treatment with an atypical antidepressant drug—tianeptine—on the mitochondria-enriched subproteome profile in the hippocampus and the frontal cortex of 3-month-old male rats following a prenatal stress procedure. Rats that were exposed to a prenatal stress procedure displayed depressive- and anxiety-like disturbances based on the elevated plus-maze and Porsolt tests. Moreover, two-dimensional electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry showed structure-dependent mitoproteome changes in brains of prenatally stressed rats after chronic tianeptine administration. A component of 2-oxoglutarate and succinate flavoprotein subunit dehydrogenases, isocitrate subunit alpha, was upregulated in the hippocampus. In the frontal cortex, there was a striking increase in the expression of glutamate dehydrogenase and cytochrome bc1 complex subunit 2. These findings suggest that mitochondria are underappreciated targets for therapeutic interventions, and mitochondrial function may be crucial for the effective treatment of stress-related diseases

Examining the generalizability of research findings from archival data

This initiative examined systematically the extent to which a large set of archival research findings generalizes across contexts. We repeated the key analyses for 29 original strategic management effects in the same context (direct reproduction) as well as in 52 novel time periods and geographies; 45% of the reproductions returned results matching the original reports together with 55% of tests in different spans of years and 40% of tests in novel geographies. Some original findings were associated with multiple new tests. Reproducibility was the best predictor of generalizability—for the findings that proved directly reproducible, 84% emerged in other available time periods and 57% emerged in other geographies. Overall, only limited empirical evidence emerged for context sensitivity. In a forecasting survey, independent scientists were able to anticipate which effects would find support in tests in new samples