Innowacje metodyczne w glottodydaktyce

Kluczem do efektywnego nauczania jest wzbudzenie u uczniów zainteresowania danym przedmiotem. W dobie technologii staje się to coraz trudniejsze. Każdego dnia jesteśmy bombardowani tysiącami obrazów i dźwięków płynących z telewizji, Internetu, czy telefonów komórkowych. Nasze zmysły przyzwyczajają się do tego bogactwa doznań i nie potrafimy wyobrazić sobie życia bez technologii. Nic dziwnego, że podręczniki zdaniem wielu osób to przeżytek. Jednak w większości szkół są one głównym, a czasami jedynym narzędziem w rękach nauczyciela. Lekcje, podczas których uczniowie korzystają wyłącznie z podręczników nie są zbyt interesujące dla młodych umysłów. A przecież wystarczy dodać kilka nowych elementów, aby przyciągnąć ich uwagę. Przygotowanie lekcji opartej o inne materiały niż klasyczny podręcznik wcale nie musi być pracochłonne i wymagać zaawansowanych umiejętności informatycznych – istnieją ogromne bazy materiałów, które przypadną do gustu uczniom w każdym wieku. Niniejszy artykuł poświęcony jest tracycyjnym i nowoczesnym metodom nauczania języka angielskiego. Nie można jednoznacznie stwierdzić, które z nich są bardziej efektywne. Jednak, gdy spojrzymy na obie grupy oczami współczesnego ucznia, innowacyjne metody wydają się być bardziej interesujące. W artykule zawarto również informacje o stosowanych środkach dydaktycznych, które mogą być wykorzystane w szkołach, na kursach językowych, a także do samodzielnej nauki języka angielskiego. Niektóre z nich związane są z technologią, inne wymagają tylko uruchomienia wyobraźni i możliwe sa do zastosowania w różnych grupach wiekowych, a także na różnych poziomach zaawansowania

System edukacji przedszkolnej w Polsce oraz wybranych krajach Unii Europejskiej

Unia Europejska (UE) od wielu lat upowszechnia idee rozwijania opieki o charakterze instytucjonalnej oraz wczesnej edukacji dla dzieci poniżej obowiązkowego wieku szkolnego. Znajduje to m.in. odzwierciedlenie w licznych konkursach w ramach których można uzyskać dofinansowanie na tworzenie czy unowocześnianie już istniejących placówek przedszkolnych. Przedszkole to pierwszy, jednakże nie zawsze nieobowiązkowy etap edukacji we wszystkich krajach Unii Europejskiej. Stanowi ono miejsce, w którym sprawowana jest opieka nad dziećmi od urodzenia do czasu pójścia do szkoły podstawowej. W Europiewyróżnia się dwa podstawowe modele organizacyjne edukacji przedszkolnej i opieki nad małym dzieckiem. Pierwszy opiera się na jednolitej strukturze dla wszystkich dzieci w wieku przedszkolnym (od 0 do 5 / 6 lat), a drugi wskazuje dwa odrębne typy instytucji przeznaczony dla dzieci: w wieku od 0 do 3 lat oraz w wieku od 3 do 6 lat. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest zaprezentowanie schematów organizacyjnych edukacji przedszkolnej w Polsce oraz innych – wybranych krajach należących do Unii Europejskiej, przez pryzmat polityk oświatowych oraz poziomu jakości edukacyjnej

Methodology of Testing Shot Blasting Machines in Industrial Conditions

Shot blasting machines are widely used for automated surface treatment and finishing of castings. In shot blasting processes the stream of shots is generated and shaped by blasting turbines, making up a kinetic and dynamic system comprising a separating rotor, an adapting sleeve and a propelling rotor provided with blades. The shot blasting performance- i.e. the quality of shot treated surfaces depends on the actual design and operational parameters of the unit whilst the values of relevant parameters are associated with the geometry of turbine components and the level of its integration with the separator system. The circulation of the blasting medium becomes the integrating factor of the process line, starting from the hopper, through the propeller turbine, casting treatment, separation of contaminated abrasive mixture, to its recycling and reuse.Inferior quality of the abrasive agent (shot) and insufficient purity of the abrasive mixture are responsible for low effectiveness of shot blasting. However, most practitioners fail to fully recognise the importance of proper diagnostics of the shot blasting process in industrial conditions. The wearing of major machine components and of the blasting agent and quality of shot treated surfaces are often misinterpreted, hence the need to take into account all factors involved in the process within the frame of a comprehensive methodology.This paper is an attempt to formulate and apply the available testing methods to the engineering practice in industrial conditions

The formation of the double neutron star pulsar J0737--3039

We find that the orbital period (2.4 hours), eccentricity (0.09), dipole magnetic field strength (6.9 x 10^9 Gauss) and spin period (22 ms) of the new highly relativistic double neutron star system PSR J0737-3039 can all be consistently explained if this system originated from a close helium star plus neutron star binary (HeS-NS) in which at the onset of the evolution the helium star had a mass in the range 4.0 to 6.5 M_sun and an orbital period in the range 0.1 to 0.2 days. Such systems are the post-Common-Envelope remnants of wide Be/X-ray binaries (orbital period ~ 100 to 1000 days) which consist of a normal hydrogen-rich star with a mass in the range 10 - 20 M_sun and a neutron star. The close HeS-NS progenitor system went through a phase of mass transfer by Roche-lobe overflow at a high rate lasting a few times 10^4 years; assuming Eddington-limited disk accretion onto the neutron star this star was spun up to its present rapid spin rate. At the moment of the second supernova explosion the He star had a mass in the range 2.3 to 3.3 M_sun and in order to obtain the present orbital parameters of PSR J0737-3039 a kick velocity in the range 70 - 230 km/s must have been imparted to the second neutron star at its birth.Comment: accepted by MNRA

UCHL1/PGP 9.5 Dynamic in neuro-immune-cutaneous milieu : focusing on axonal nerve terminals and epidermal keratinocytes in psoriatic itch

Psoriasis is an immunogenetic skin disease manifesting as plaque lesions on the skin. Patients with psoriasis frequently suffer from itch, an unpleasant sensation causing a desire to scratch. Psoriatic itch is mainly transmitted by unmyelinated C-fibers; however, the exact molecular mechanism of psoriatic itch is still unexplained. Protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) is a panneurological marker commonly used for analysis of peripheral peptidergic and nonpeptidergic nerves and identification of cutaneous neuro-immune-endocrine cells. However, some studies suggested that nonneuronal cells, like keratinocytes, may also express PGP 9.5. This phenomenon might be linked with impaired axonal transport, keratinocyte injury, or dysfunctions of neuro-immune-cutaneous connections. The aim of this study was to analyze the expression of PGP 9.5 in psoriatic skin. We observed significantly altered density of PGP 9.5-positive axonal nerve terminals in pruritic lesional (p=0.04) and nonlesional psoriatic skin (p>0.001) compared with controls. In contrast, no significant differences were observed between psoriatic skin without itch and controls. Furthermore, PGP 9.5 expression by suprabasal keratinocytes (SBKs) was significantly increased in itchy skin lesions (p=0.007) compared to skin without itch, and a positive correlation was observed between PGP 9.5 expression and itch intensity (r=0.64; p=0.02). Our findings indicate changes in peripheral innervations and psoriatic keratinocytes, which may influence neuro-immune-cutaneous homeostasis and modulate itch transmission

EEG Correlates of Attention Concentration in Successful Amateur Boxers

Parameters of EEG activities that could be related to a better attention concentration were compared in two groups of young men, one of which included adequately coached amateur boxers and another consisted of students that were not involved in boxing. The EEG signals were registered from the Cz point in accordance with the 10-20 system; the theta/beta and theta/sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) ratios proved to be especially important for purposes of analysis. Research media included a FlexComp Infinity coder and an EEG-Z sensor with an automatic impedance function. The results were evaluated by means of BioGraph Infinity. The obtained results allow us to conclude that adequately coached amateur boxers who are successful achieve lower theta/beta ratio and theta/SMR ratios than control group students not involved in boxing. One can suggest this is due to the better attention concentration in the boxers (despite posible head injuries) compared to the control group.Ми порівнювали показники ЕЕГ-активності, які могли мати відношення до кращої концентрації уваги, в двох групах молодих чоловіків. Одна з груп складалася з боксерівлюбителів із високими спортивними показниками, а друга – із студентів-спортсменів, які не займалися боксом. ЕЕГсигнали відводилися від локусу Cz (відповідно системі 10–20); особливу увагу при аналізі приділяли відношенням потужностей тета/бета та тета/сенсомоторного (СМР) ритмів. До комплексу апаратури входили кодер FlexComp Infinity та сенсор EEG-Z із функцією автоматичного контролю імпедансу. Результати оцінювали за допомогою програми „BioGrapf Infinity”. Отримані результати дозволяють дійти висновку, що в адекватно тренованих боксерів-любителів (котрі досягали високих результатів на змаганнях) значення відношень тета/бета та тета/СМР у середньому є вищими, ніж такі у студентів з іншою спортивною спеціалізацією (група контролю). Незважаючи на можливі наслідки неминучих травм голови, для студентів-боксерів, вірогідно, є характерною краща концентрація сенсомоторної уваги, ніж для суб’єктів групи контролю

An intense state of hard X-ray emission of Cyg X-1 observed by INTEGRAL coincident with TeV measurements

We present INTEGRAL light curves and spectra of the black-hole binary Cyg X-1 during a bright event that occurred in 2006 September, and which was simultaneous with a detection at 0.15-1 TeV energies by the MAGIC telescope. We analyse the hard X-ray emission from 18 to 700 keV with the INTEGRAL data taken on 2006 September 24-26. We present the light curves and fit the high energy spectrum with various spectral models. Despite variations in the flux by a factor of ~2 in the the 20-700 keV energy band, the shape of the energy spectrum remained remarkably stable. It is very well represented by an e-folded power law with the photon index of 1.4 and a high energy cut-off around 130-140 keV. The spectrum is also well described by thermal Comptonisation including a moderate reflection component, with a reflectionamplitude R around 0.4. The temperature of the hot Comptonising electrons is ~70 keV and their Thomson optical depth is ~2.5. These spectral properties are typical of those observed in the low/hard state. This shows that Cyg X-1 may stay in the low hard state at least up to the flux level of 2 Crab, which corresponds to ~2-3 percent of the Eddington luminosity. It is the first time a persistent high-mass black-hole binary is observed at a few percent of the Eddington luminosity with a stable low/hard state spectrum over a period of a few days. The TeV detection coincides with the peak of a small X-ray flare just after a very fast rise in hard X-ray flux. In contrast, the source remained undetected by MAGIC at the peak of a larger X-ray flare occurring one day later and corresponding to the maximum of the X-ray luminosity of the whole outburst. We do not find any obvious correlation between the X-ray and TeV emission.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (major changes following the referee's comments

NLS1 galaxies and estimation of their central black hole masses from the X-ray excess variance method

Black hole mass determination in active galaxies is a key issue in understanding various luminosity states. In the present paper we try to generalise the mass determination method based on the X-ray excess variance, successfully used for typical broad line Seyfert 1 galaxies (BLS1) to Narrow Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies. NLS1 galaxies differ from BLS1 with respect to several properties. They are generally more variable in 2-10 keV energy band so the natural expectation is the need to use a different scaling coefficient between the mass and the variance in these two types of sources. However, we find that such a simple approach is not enough. Although for majority of the 21 NLS1 galaxies in our sample a single scaling coefficient (larger by a factor 20) provided us with a satisfactory method of mass determination, in a small subset of NLS1 galaxies this approach failed. Variability of those objects appeared to be at the intermediate level between NLS1 and BLS1 galaxies. These exceptional NLS1 galaxies have much harder soft X-ray spectra than majority of NLS1 galaxies. We thus postulate that the division of Seyfert 1 galaxies into BLS1 and NLS1 according to the widths of the Hbeta line is less generic than according to the soft X-ray slope.Comment: print in MNRAS, 12 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables; final version -> minor language mistakes are corrected, added 1 sentence and 2 references Mathur & Grupe (2005a,b