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This article reports on two experiments that examine the computation of contrastive focus in Russian on the part of adult English-dominant heritage speakers and second language learners of Russian, in comparison with baseline monolinguals. The first experiment uses an acceptability judgment task to determine whether bilingual and monolingual speakers use both contextual and prosodic cues to determine the location of contrastive focus. A follow-up experiment uses two prominence detection tasks in order to separately examine participants' sensitivity to contextual vs. prosodic cues. The findings indicate that, at higher proficiency, bilingual speakers of Russian successfully use both contextual and prosodic cues to contrastive focus; with proficiency controlled for, heritage speakers do not have an advantage over second language learners in this domain. These findings are discussed in light of cross-linguistic influence and interface vulnerability.

This study investigates how L1-Korean L2-English learners perform with regard to articles in both explicit and implicit tasks. It also examines the role of L1-transfer from Korean demonstratives to English definites in L2 article production. 21 native English speakers and 27 adult intermediate L1-Korean L2-English learners were tested. The participants completed an elicited imitation task (EIT, implicit) and a forced-choice task (FCT, explicit). In the EIT, participants repeated sentences with and without articles, while stating whether the sentence matched the picture. In the FCT, participants chose the correct article for each item. The same sentences were used in both tasks. The results showed that in the FCT, learners were target-like in anaphoric contexts, supplying "the," but very frequently overused "a" in non-anaphoric (bridging) contexts, suggesting that they equate definiteness with previous-mention. In the EIT, learners were less target-like than native speakers, yet the patterns of the two groups were similar. We consider possible explanations for the different results obtained in the two tasks.

This study investigates (1) whether second language learners (L2ers) acquire the Mandarin system of pronouns and reflexives despite differences from their first languages (L1s) and (2) whether L1-English and L1-Korean L2ers differ due to L1-transfer. Unlike English, Mandarin and Korean allow long-distance (LD) reflexives. While "himself/herself" and the Mandarin equivalent "taziji" both require local readings, Mandarin "ziji" 'self' allows both local and LD readings. In Korean, "caki" and "casin" allow LD readings while "caki-casin" requires local readings. For pronouns, English "him/her" and Mandarin "ta" both disallow local readings while Korean "ku/kunye" allows them. These cross-linguistic differences lead to different transfer-based predictions for L1-Korean and L1-English L2-Mandarin learners. Sixty-two Mandarin native speakers, 42 L1-Korean L2ers, and 32 L1-English L2ers completed a picture-based Truth Value Judgment Task and a Mandarin proficiency test. Results show that proficiency-matched L2ers from both L1s predominantly allowed only local readings of "ziji," suggesting that the local reading is the default option, and that Korean speakers do not transfer the properties of Korean simplex reflexives onto "ziji," possibly because LD "ziji" is logophoric, while "caki" is not. Regarding "ta," L1-Korean L2ers under-accepted LD readings and over-accepted local readings, a result that can be attributed to transfer, per Kim's analysis that Rule I, posited by Grodzinsky and Reinhart, that regulates the distribution of pronouns is weak or absent in Korean.

The issues of diagnosis and treatment of hypertension (HTN), as well as the prevention of its complications, are an urgent problem in cardiology. On June 21, 2023, the Journal of Hypertension published guidelines on HTN from the European Society of Hypertension (ESH), which were first presented to the public at the annual European Hypertension Meetings on June 24, 2023 in Milan. This publication describes the highlights and key updates of the guidelines and outlines its clinical significance. Russian experts also discussed current problems of pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of HTN.

Aim. To evaluate the effect of blood concentrations of biomarkers of inflammation and fibrosis, obesity parameters, and parameters characterizing cardiac remodeling on the risk of recurrent atrial fibrillation (AF) within 6 months after elective electrical cardioversion (ECV) in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS).Materials and methods. The study included patients with AF and MS (n=60) and with AF without MS (n=41), who underwent elective ECV. Prospective observation was carried out for 6 months.Results. Arrhythmia recurrence within 6 months after ECV in patients with AF in combination with MS is higher than without MS (34/60 and 9/41, p = 0.003). Among echocardiographic parameters, left atrial volume and volume index, and epicardial adipose tissue thickness (EAT) are associated with arrhythmia resumption in patients with MS and AF. Blood concentrations of galectin-3 (17.4 (12.8-19.6) and 13.3 (5.1-14.9), p=0.0001), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) (163, 1 (134.1-232.2) and 156.7 (104.7 - 189.1), p=0.002), growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) (2343.9 (1206.1-3254.2 ) and 986.1 (812.5-1775.5), p=0.0001) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) (3.8 (2.3-7.3) and 2.3 (1, 3-3.4), p=0001) in patients with MS with recurrent arrhythmia is higher than without arrhythmia. According to the ROC analysis of EAT, the concentration of galectin-3 and IL-6 in the blood was most predictive of relapse of AF in MS; threshold values of the predictors were established: EAT more than 6.1 mm, IL-6 more than 2.8 pg/ml, galectin-3 more than 15.9 ng/ml.Conclusion. In patients with AF combined with MS, the frequency of maintaining sinus rhythm after effective ECV for 6 months is lower than in patients without MS. Epicardial adipose tissue thickness, high concentrations of galectin-3 and IL-6 are associated with relapse of AF in patients with MS.

The work is devoted to the study of the characteristics of the state control of a thin-film element based on a phase-change GeTe material. The properties of such an element have been controlled by the action of sequences of ultrashort laser pulses. This action leads to a rapid heating of the thin film element and provides a phase transition between states with a resistance different by several orders of magnitude. The dynamics of the resistance was studied using a high speed oscilloscope according to the scheme where the element under study was the voltage divider arm of a highly stable source. Three different types of conductivity switching were observed for 100 nm thin films. For low energy laser radiation, several distinct states were obtained in which the material film has predominantly semiconducting properties. As the energy of the optical pulses increases, the number of possible stable states determined by the specific conductivity of the material decreases to two, one of which (low resistance) is exclusively metallic properties. In all cases, the time taken to switch to a stable state does not exceed a few tens of nanoseconds for films up to 100 nm thick. The study has demonstrated that the structures described can be used to implement optically controlled memristive elements. In addition, the large number of possible allowable specific resistances of the element will make it possible to use it to increase the information capacity of memory cells based on phase-change materials or to implement optoelectronic neuromorphic systems.

This article investigates whether explicit instruction can affect second language (L2) competence in the domain of English quantifier scope. An intervention study was conducted with L1-Mandarin L2-English learners in order to examine (1) whether these learners can learn inverse scope for the structure on which they are instructed (double-quantifier configuration: "A dog scared every man"; quantifier-negation configuration: "Every sheep did not jump over the fence"); (2) whether they can correctly generalize availability of inverse scope from the configuration on which they are instructed to one on which they are not instructed; and (3) whether learners overgeneralize inverse scope to a superficially similar configuration that does not allow inverse scope. Following Schwartz (1993), generalization is taken to be a hallmark of true acquisition (= changes to linguistic competence) as opposed to learning. The results show that learners successfully learn inverse scope for the configuration on which they are instructed, but do not generalize availability of inverse scope to the other configuration. Moreover, learners instructed on double-quantifier configurations overgeneralize availability of inverse scope to island configurations such as "There is one dog which scared every man." The findings indicate that in this domain, explicit instruction does not affect linguistic competence.

This publication discusses the mechanisms underlying the development of arterial hypertension on the background of stress, discusses the current problems of blood pressure control in patients with stress-induced sleep disorders, the clinical features of patients with hypersympathicotonia as the main mechanism for the development of arterial hypertension and blood pressure variability in patients with comorbid pathology, a diagnostic algorithm, as well as presenting current recommendations in the strategy for choosing the optimal antihypertensive therapy with the possibility of personalized choice in various clinical situations.

Arabinogalactan (AG), extracted from larch wood, is a β-1,3-galactan backbone and β-1,6-galactan side chains with attached α-1-arabinofuranosyl and β-1-arabinopyranosyl residues. Although the structural characteristics of arabinogalactan II type have already been studied, its functionalization using 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl (TEMPO) oxidation remains a promising avenue. In this study, the oxidation of AG, a neutral polysaccharide, was carried out using the TEMPO/NaBr/NaOCl system, resulting in polyuronides with improved functional properties. The oxidation of AG was controlled by analyzing portions of the reaction mixture using spectrophotometric and titration methods. To determine the effect of the TEMPO/NaBr/NaOCl system, air-dried samples of native and oxidized AG were studied by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, as well as by gel permeation chromatography. Compounds that model free (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)) and hydroxyl radicals (iron(II) sulfate, hydrogen peroxide, and salicylic acid) were used to study the antioxidant properties. It was found that, in oxidized forms of AG, the content of carboxyl groups increases by 0.61 mmol compared to native AG. The transformation of oxidized AG into the H+ form using a strong acid cation exchanger leads to an increase in the number of active carboxyl groups to 0.76 mmol. Using FTIR spectroscopy, characteristic absorption bands (1742, 1639, and 1403 cm−1) were established, indicating the occurrence of oxidative processes with a subsequent reduction in the carboxyl group. The functionality of AG was also confirmed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), which is reflected in an increase in molecular weights (up to 15,700 g/mol). A study of the antioxidant properties of the oxidized and protonated forms of AG show that the obtained antioxidant activity (AOA) values are generally characteristic of polyuronic acids. Therefore, the TEMPO oxidation of AG and other neutral polysaccharides can be considered a promising approach for obtaining compounds with the necessary controlled characteristics.

Patients with heart failure have a high risk of developing cardiovascular complications, and prevention of thereof requires timely medical care and diagnostic assessment. An expert meeting was held with the participation of the NGO “Society of Specialists in Arterial Hypertension and Cardiovascular Prevention”, NGO “Evidence-Based Cardiology”, NGO “Association of Endocrinologists of Kazakhstan”. On April 29, 2022 a panel of experts discussed the rationale for the use of SGLT2 inhibitors in heart failure. The EMPER-OR-Reduced and EMPEROR-Preserved trials analyzed cardiovascular and renal outcomes in empagliflozin treatment in patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Several proposals and recommen-dations have been adopted for further research on the cardiovascular and renal effects of empagliflozin and its use in clinical practice in patients with chronic heart failure, regardless of the presence of type 2 diabetes.At the experts meeting, issues were considered on the creation of heart failure rooms in outpatient settings and the possibility of studying the concentration of brain natriuretic peptides and performing echocardiography, including the assessment of left ventricular deformity and electrocardiography (ECG).

This commentary discusses the recent keynote article in "Second Language Research" by Westergaard (2021), which extends the Micro-cue Model to second language (L2) and third language (L3) acquisition. The commentary comments on such questions as: What makes a given property easy or hard to acquire? How do learners determine similarity? What exactly is the role of UG, on a non-parametric view? And what explains the differences between L1 and L2/subsequent acquisition?

The objective was to determine the concentrations of biomarkers of fibrosis and inflammation in the blood, parameters characterizing heart remodeling in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in combination with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods and materials. The study included 231 examined patients aged 35 to 65 years: patients with DM (n=99), of which 49 patients with AF, and the comparison group consisted of patients with AF without T2DM (n=54) and healthy examined patients (n=78).Results. It was found that the concentration of profibrogenic biomarkers circulating in the blood of patients with AF and T2DM is higher than in patients with AF without T2DM: galectin-3 (13.4 (9.1–16.9) and 6.8 (4.6–12.8) ng/ml, p˂0.001), TGF-beta1 (3032.5 (2468.5–4283.5) and 2339.7 (1813.3–3368.8) pg/ml, p=0.01), GDF-15 (2359.3 (1234.3–3465.1) and 1256.7 (889.9–2083.7) pg/ml, p˂0.001), PINP (3625.4 (2462.1–4463.7) and 2451.3 (1842.0–2941.0) pg/ml, p˂0.001) and PIIINP (92.8 (68.6–122.4) and 67.6 (47.9–93.3) ng/ml, p˂0.001). Concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines CRP (3.5 (2.2–4.4) and 2.7 (1.4–7.1) mg/l, p=0.01) and CT-1 (1032.1 (667.6–1495.3) and 549.1 (411.9–960.1) pg/ml, p˂0.001) in patients with AF and T2DM is higher than in patients with T2DM without AF. The levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6 in patients with AF and T2DM are comparable to the concentrations of these biomarkers of inflammation in patients with T2DM without AF. According to the results of echocardiography, it was revealed that the thickness of the epicardial adipose tissue in patients with AF and T2DM is greater than in patients with AF without T2DM and greater than in patients with T2DM without AF (7.1±0.4, 4.5±0.3 and 5.1±0.3, respectively, p˂0.001). A strong positive correlation between GDF-15 and HbA1c was established according to the correlation analysis (r=0.617, p˂0.0001) and regression analysis (β=0.586, p˂0.0001). According to binomial logistic regression, it was found that T2DM in the examined cohort increased the risk of AF by 2.2 times (OR=2.2, 95 %CI 1.41–3.31, p=0.00004).Conclusion. The obtained new data on the increase in the concentration of profibrogenic factors in patients with AF in combination with T2DM indicate an important role of the formation of myocardial fibrosis in the development of this arrhythmia in these patients.

Complex oxide heterostructures provide access to emergent functional and structural phases which are not present in the bulk constituent materials. In this Rapid Communication, we focus on La0.67Sr0.33CoO3 (LSCO)/Gd heterostructures due to the high oxygen ion conductivity, as well as the coupled magnetic and electronic properties of LSCO, which are strongly dependent on the oxygen stoichiometry. This combination of properties enables the ionic control of the functional properties of LSCO thin films through the presence of oxygen getter layers such as Gd. We utilize X-ray nanodiffraction to directly image the nanoscale morphology of LSCO thin films as they are progressively transformed from the equilibrium perovskite phase to the metastable brownmillerite (BM) phase with increasing Gd thickness. Our studies show the coexistence of perovskite and BM phases with a critical oxygen vacancy concentration threshold which leads to the formation of extended BM filaments. In addition to lateral phase separation, we observed phase separation within the film thickness possibly due to pinning of the perovskite and BM phases by the substrate/LSCO and LSCO/Gd interface, respectively. Our studies provide a nanoscale survey of the phase separation in the cobaltites and shed light on the formation of the metastable BM phase.

This study uses both offline and online tasks in order to investigate whether second language learners of English from an article-less first-language (Mandarin) are able to integrate the indefinite article into their grammar despite the lack of articles in their first language. This article reports on two studies, one on learners' sensitivity to errors of article omission and one on learners' sensitivity to errors of article misuse. The results indicate that learners show quite native-like sensitivity to errors with articles online, and in fact perform in a more target-like manner in an online task than in a traditional offline judgment task. The findings of this study provide evidence against the Morphological Congruency Hypothesis in that they indicate that learners can represent a new morphological category (in this case, the indefinite article) in their Interlanguage grammar.