Search results for: literacy discovery

Authors: Anil Kumar Baral

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The research introduces a ground-breaking approach to waste management, emphasizing innovation, education, and transformation. Using Chandragiri Municipality as a case study, the study advocates a shift from traditional to progressive waste management strategies, contributing an inventive waste framework, sustainability advocacy, and a transformative blueprint. The waste composition analysis highlights Chandragiri's representative profile, leading to a comprehensive plan addressing challenges and recommending a transition to a profitable waste treatment model, supported by relevant statistics. The data-driven approach incorporates the official data of waste Composition from Chandragiri Municipality as secondary data and incorporates the primary data from Chandragiri households, ensuring a nuanced perspective. Discussions on implementation, viability, and environmental preservation underscore the dual benefit of sustainability. The study includes a comparative analysis, monitoring, and evaluation framework, examining international relevance and collaboration, and conducting a social and environmental impact assessment. The results indicate the necessity for creative changes in Chandragiri's waste practices, recommending separate treatment centers in wards level rather than Municipal level, composting machines, and a centralized waste treatment plant. Educational reforms involve revising school curricula and awareness campaigns. The transformation's success hinges on reducing waste size, efficient treatment center operation, and ongoing public literacy. The conclusion summarizes key findings, envisioning a future with sustainable waste management practices deeply embedded in the community fabric.

Keywords: innovate, educate, transform, municipality, method

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Authors: Yulan Wu

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The spread of fake news on social media has posed significant societal harm to the public and the nation, with its threats spanning various domains, including politics, economics, health, and more. News on social media often covers multiple domains, and existing models studied by researchers and relevant organizations often perform well on datasets from a single domain. However, when these methods are applied to social platforms with news spanning multiple domains, their performance significantly deteriorates. Existing research has attempted to enhance the detection performance of multi-domain datasets by adding single-domain labels to the data. However, these methods overlook the fact that a news article typically belongs to multiple domains, leading to the loss of domain knowledge information contained within the news text. To address this issue, research has found that news records in different domains often use different vocabularies to describe their content. In this paper, we propose a fake news detection framework that combines domain knowledge and expert knowledge. Firstly, it utilizes an unsupervised domain discovery module to generate a low-dimensional vector for each news article, representing domain embeddings, which can retain multi-domain knowledge of the news content. Then, a feature extraction module uses the domain embeddings discovered through unsupervised domain knowledge to guide multiple experts in extracting news knowledge for the total feature representation. Finally, a classifier is used to determine whether the news is fake or not. Experiments show that this approach can improve multi-domain fake news detection performance while reducing the cost of manually labeling domain labels.

Keywords: fake news, deep learning, natural language processing, multiple domains

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Authors: Catherine Mangan, Beth Anderson

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There has been a significant drive to use online or hybrid learning in Higher Education (HE) over recent years. HEs with a virtual presence offer their communities a range of benefits, including the potential for greater inclusivity, diversity, and collaboration; more flexible learning packages; and more engaging, dynamic content. Institutions can also experience significant challenges when seeking to extend learning spaces in this way, as can learners themselves. For example, staff members’ and learners’ digital literacy varies (as do their perceptions of technologies in use), and there can be confusion about optimal approaches to implementation. Furthermore, the speed with which HE institutions have needed to shift to fully online or hybrid models, owing to the COVID19 pandemic, has highlighted the significant barriers to successful implementation. HE environments have been shown to predict a range of organisational, academic, and experiential outcomes, both positive and negative. Much research has focused on the social aspect of virtual platforms, as well as the nature and effectiveness of the technologies themselves. There remains, however, a relative paucity of synthesised knowledge on the psychology of learners’ relationships with their institutions; specifically, how individual difference and interpersonal factors predict students’ ability and willingness to engage with novel virtual learning spaces. Accordingly, extending learning spaces remains challenging for institutions, and wholly remote courses, in particular, can experience high attrition rates. Focusing on the last five years, this pragmatic review summarises evidence from the psychological and pedagogical literature. In particular, the review highlights the importance of addressing the psychological and relational complexities of students’ shift from offline to online engagement. In doing so, it identifies considerations for HE institutions looking to deliver in this way.

Keywords: higher education, individual differences, interpersonal relationships, online learning, virtual environment

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Authors: Ayaka A. Matsuo, Gweyneth Victoria I. Maranan, Shawn Mikel Hobayan

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In this study, we delve into the application of mahogany fruits as biochar for soil amendment, aiming to evaluate their effectiveness in improving soil quality and influencing the growth parameters of okra plants through a comprehensive analysis employing various multivariate tests. In a more straightforward approach, our results show that biochar derived from isn't just a minor player but emerges as a key contributor to our study. This finding holds profound implications, as it highlights the material significance of biochar derived from Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) fruits, leaves, and branches in shaping the outcomes. The importance of this discovery lies in its contribution to an enhanced comprehension of the overall effects of biochar on the variables explored in our investigation. Notably, the positive changes observed in height, number of leaves, and width of leaves in okra plants further support the premise that the incorporation of biochar improves soil quality. These findings provide valuable insights for agricultural practices, suggesting that biochar derived from Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) fruits, leaves, and branches holds promise as a sustainable soil amendment with positive implications for plant growth. The statistical results from multivariate tests serve to solidify the conclusion that biochar plays a pivotal role in driving the observed outcomes in our study. In essence, this research not only sheds light on the potential of mahogany fruit-derived biochar but also emphasizes its significance in fostering healthier soil conditions and, consequently, enhanced plant growth.

Keywords: soil amendment, biochar, mahogany, soil health

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Authors: T. Abdulkadir

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Most often, marking and assessment of multiple choice kinds of examinations have been opined by many as a cumbersome and herculean task to accomplished manually in Nigeria. Usually this may be in obvious nexus to the fact that mass numbers of candidates were known to take the same examination simultaneously. Eventually, marking such a mammoth number of booklets dared and dread even the fastest paid examiners who often undertake the job with the resulting consequences of stress and boredom. This paper explores the evolution, as well as the set aim to envision and transcend marking the Multiple Choice Objectives- type examination into a thing of creative recreation, or perhaps a more relaxing activity via the use of the mobile phone. A more “pragmatic” dimension method was employed to achieve this work, rather than the formal “in-depth research” based approach due to the “novelty” of the mobile-smartphone e-Marking Scheme discovery. Moreover, being an evolutionary scheme, no recent academic work shares a direct same topic concept with the ‘use of cell phone as an e-marking technique’ was found online; thus, the dearth of even miscellaneous citations in this work. Additional future advancements are what steered the anticipatory motive of this paper which laid the fundamental proposition. However, the paper introduces for the first time the concept of mobile-smart phone e-marking, the steps to achieve it, as well as the merits and demerits of the technique all spelt out in the subsequent pages.

Keywords: cell phone, e-marking scheme (eMS), mobile phone, mobile-smart phone, multiple choice objectives (MCO), smartphone

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Authors: Hui-Yi Wang, Shu-Mei Chen, Mei-Fang Liu

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Background and purpose: Providing clinical experience in medical education is an important discipline method where students can gradually apply their academic knowledge to clinical situations. The purpose of this study was to establish self-assessment questionnaires for students to assess their learning outcomes for two fields of physical therapy, orthopedic physical therapy, and pediatric physical therapy, in a clinical fieldwork course. Methods: The questionnaires were developed based on the core competence dimensions of the course. The content validity of the questionnaires was evaluated and established by expert meetings. Among the third-year undergraduate students who took the clinical fieldwork course, there were 49 students participated in this study. Teachers arranged for the students to study two professional fields, and each professional field conducted a three-week clinical lesson. The students filled out the self-assessment questionnaires before and after each three-week lesson. Results: The self-assessment questionnaires were established by expert meetings that there were six core competency dimensions in each of the two fields, with 20 and 21 item-questions, respectively. After each three-week clinical fieldwork, the self-rating scores in each core competency dimension were higher when compared to those before the course, indicating having better clinical abilities after the lessons. The best self-rating scores were the dimension of attitude and humanistic literacy, and the two lower scores were the dimensions of professional knowledge and skills and problem-solving critical thinking. Conclusions: This study developed questionnaires for clinical fieldwork courses to reflect students' learning outcomes, including the performance of professional knowledge, practice skills, and professional attitudes. The use of self-assessment of learning performance can help students build up their reflective competencies. Teachers can guide students to pay attention to the performance of abilities in each core dimension to enhance the effectiveness of learning through self-reflection and improvement.

Keywords: physical therapy, clinical fieldwork course, learning outcomes assessment, medical education, self-reflection ability

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Authors: Tumelo Jaquiline Ntsopi

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This study explored the academic writing challenges of first-year students who use English as an Additional Language (EAL) registered in the EAW101 module at an ODeL institution. Research shows that academic writing is a challenge for EAL teaching and learning contexts across the globe in higher education institutions (HEIs). Academic writing is an important aspect of academic literacy in any institution of higher learning, more so in an ODeL institution. This has probed research that shows that academic writing is and continues to pose challenges for EAL teaching and learning contexts in higher education institutions. This study stems from the researcher’s experience in teaching academic writing to first-year students in the EAW101 module. The motivation for this study emerged from the fact that EAW101 is a writing module that has a high number of students in the Department of English Studies with an average of between 50-80 percent pass rate. These statistics elaborate on the argument that most students registered in this module struggle with academic writing, and they need intervention to assist and support them in achieving competence in the module. This study is underpinned by Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and Transactional distance theory. This study adopted a qualitative research methodology and utilised a case study approach as a research design. Furthermore, the study gathered data from first year students and the EAW101 module’s student support initiatives. To collect data, focus group discussions, structured open-ended evaluation questions, and an observation schedule were used to gather data. The study is vital towards exploring academic writing challenges that first-year students in EAW101 encounter so that lecturers in the module may consider re-evaluating their methods of teaching to improve EAL students’ academic writing skills. This study may help lecturers towards enhancing academic writing in a ODeL context by assisting first year students through using student support interventions.

Keywords: academic writing, academic writing challenge, ODeL, EAL

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Authors: Omoruyi Gold Idemudia, Alexander P. Sadimenko

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The synthesis of N-heterocycles with novel properties, having broad spectrum biological activities that may become alternative medicinal drugs, have been attracting a lot of research attention due to the emergence of medicinal drug’s limitations such as disease resistance and their toxicity effects among others. Acylpyrazolones have been employed as pharmaceuticals as well as analytical reagent and their application as coordination complexes with transition metal ions have been well established. By way of a condensation reaction with amines acylpyrazolone ketones form a more chelating and superior group of compounds known as azomethines. 4-propyl-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2-pyrazolin-5-one was reacted with phenylhydrazine to get a new phenylhydrazone which was further reacted with aqueous solutions of palladium and platinum salts, in an effort towards the discovery of transition metal based synthetic drugs. The compounds were characterized by means of analytical, spectroscopic, thermogravimetric analysis TGA, as well as x-ray crystallography. 4-propyl-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2-pyrazolin-5-one phenylhydrazone crystallizes in a triclinic crystal system with a P-1 (No. 2) space group based on x-ray crystallography. The bidentate ON ligand formed a square planar geometry on coordinating with metal ions based on FTIR, electronic and NMR spectra as well as magnetic moments. Reported compounds showed antibacterial activities against the nominated bacterial isolates using the disc diffusion technique at 20 mg/ml in triplicates. The metal complexes exhibited a better antibacterial activity with platinum complex having an MIC value of 0.63 mg/ml. Similarly, ligand and complexes also showed antioxidant scavenging properties against 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl DPPH radical at 0.5mg/ml relative to ascorbic acid (standard drug).

Keywords: acylpyrazolone, antibacterial studies, metal complexes, phenylhydrazone, spectroscopy

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Authors: Ika Jorum

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The aim of this collaborative project was to develop library support that contributes in a long-term way to a technical university’s work on increased equality in education. The background was an assessment made by the Higher Education Authority that showed the need for improvement regarding equality in several programs at the university. The university’s Vice President for equality and Vice President for sustainability announced funds for projects that supported the improvement of equality in education. The library was granted funding for a one-year project that aimed both to support teachers in order to embed equality in education and to support the library staff and improve the organization’s own work. The part of the project that was directed to teachers was performed as activities in different areas and forms, such as acquisition and collections, teaching, exhibitions and book discussions. Besides the activities and support that was offered to teachers, the education team had journal clubs in order to develop and embed equality in their own teaching. The part that was directed to library staff and management was performed as workshops in collaboration with Equality Office in order to identify areas where the library could make improvements on work with equality and inclusion. The expectation was that the activities would be well attended since the project team had got indications that the content would be relevant. The outcome of this project was that some activities turned out to be more attended than others and what is expected to be found relevant, for example, a workshop on information searching from a gender and equality perspective for teachers, might still not attract participants. On the other hand, Ph.D. students and students participated in the book discussions and wanted them to continue after the project had ended. Results will be shared both on what was successful and what was challenging. Some reflections will be given on what can be done to attract participants to activities in the area of gender equality that is most likely relevant for the expected attendants and how results from a project on gender equality can be integrated into an organization’s daily work.

Keywords: equality, higher education, critical information literacy, collaboration

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Authors: Folasade R. Sulaiman

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Pupils’ health and nutrition are basically important to their schooling. The preponderance of avoidable deaths among children in Africa (WHO, 2000) may not be unconnected with the nutritional and health education status of families and communities that have their children as school clients. This study adopted a descriptive survey design focusing on the assessment of the level of nutritional and health education of families and community members in the rural riverine areas of Ogun State. Two research questions were raised. The Nutritional and Health Education of Families and Communities Inventory (NHEFCI) was used to collect data from 250 rural child-bearing aged women, and 0.73 test-retest reliability coefficient was established to determine the strength of the instrument. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentages and mean in accordance with research questions raised in the study. The findings revealed amongst others: that 65% of the respondents had low level of nutritional and health education among the families and community members; while 72% had low level of awareness of the possible influence of nutritional and health education on the learning outcomes of the children. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that government should intensify efforts on sensitization, mass literacy campaign etc.; also improve upon the already existing School Feeding Programme in Nigerian primary schools to provide at least one balanced diet for children while in school; community health workers, social workers, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) should collaborate with international Organizations like UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO etc. to organize sensitization programmes for members of the rural riverine communities on the importance of meeting the health and nutritional needs of their children in order to attain their educational potentials.

Keywords: nutritional and health education, learning capacities, school-age children, universal basic education, rural riverine areas

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Authors: Vagolu S. Krishna, Shan Zheng, Estharla M. Rekha, Luke W. Guddat, Dharmarajan Sriram

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Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major threat to human health. This due to the fact that current drug treatments are less than optimal as well as the rising occurrence of multi drug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant strains of the etiological agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mt). Given the wide-spread significance of this disease, we have undertaken a design and evaluation program to discover new anti-TB drug leads. Here, our attention is focused on ketol-acid reductoisomerase (KARI), the second enzyme in the branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis pathway. Importantly, this enzyme is present in bacteria but not in humans, making it an attractive proposition for drug discovery. In the present work, we used high-throughput virtual screening to identify seventeen potential inhibitors of KARI using the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in-house database. Compounds were selected based on high docking scores, which were assigned as the result of favourable interactions between the compound and the active site of KARI. The Ki values for two leads, compounds 14 and 16 are 3.71 and 3.06 µM, respectively for Mt KARI. To assess the mode of binding, 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations for these two compounds in association with Mt KARI were performed and showed that the complex was stable with an average RMSD of less than 2.5 Å for all atoms. Compound 16 showed an MIC of 2.06 ± 0.91 µM and a 1.9 fold logarithmic reduction in the growth of Mt in an infected macrophage model. The two compounds exhibited low toxicity against murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cell lines. Thus, both compounds are promising candidates for development as an anti-TB drug leads.

Keywords: ketol-acid reductoisomerase, macrophage, molecular docking and dynamics, tuberculosis

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Authors: Adrien Cornille, Sylvain Caillol, Bernard Boutevon

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The development of polyurethanes began in 1937 at I. G. Farbenindustrie where Bayer with coworkers discovered the addition polymerization reaction between diisocyanates and diols. Since their discovery, the demand in PU has continued to increase and it will attain in 2016 a production of 18 million tons. However, isocyanates compounds are harmful to human and environment. Methylene diphenyl 4,4’-diisocyanate (MDI) and toluene diisocyanate (TDI), the most widely used isocyanates in PU industry, are classified as CMR (Carcinogen, Mutagen, and Reprotoxic). In order to design isocyanate-free materials, an interesting alternative is the use of Polyhydroxyurethanes (PHUs) by reaction between cyclic carbonate and polyfunctional amines. The main problem concerning PHUs synthesis relates to the low reactivity of carbonate/amine reaction. To solve this issue, many studies in the literature have been conducted to design PHU from more reactive cyclic-carbonates, bearing electro-withdrawing substituent or by using six-membered, seven-membered or thio-cyclic carbonate. The main drawback of all these systems remains the low molar masses obtained for the synthesized PHUs, which hinders their use for material applications. Therefore, we developed another strategy to afford new hybrid PHU with high conversion. This very innovative two-step approach consists in the first step in the synthesis of aminotelechelic PHU oligomers with different chain length from bis-cyclic carbonate with different excess of primary amine functions. In the second step, these aminotelechelic PHU oligomers were used in formulation with biobased epoxy monomers (from cashew nut shell liquid and tannins) to synthesize hybrid polyepoxyurethane polymers. These materials were then characterized by thermal and mechanical analyses.

Keywords: polyurethane, polyhydroxyurethane, aminotelechelic NIPU oligomers, carbonates, epoxy, amine, epoxyurethane polymers, hybrid polymers

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Authors: Thomas J. Bell III

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Pursuing a business degree is fraught with perplexing questions regarding the rising tuition cost and the immediate value of earning a degree. Any decision to pursue an undergraduate business degree is perceived to have value if it facilitates post-graduate job placement. Business programs have decreased value in the absence of innovation in business programs that close the skills gap between recent graduates and employment opportunities. Industry-based certifications are seemingly becoming a requirement differentiator among job applicants. Texas Wesleyan University offers a Computer Information System (CIS) program with an innovative curriculum that integrates industry-recognized certification training into its traditional curriculum with core subjects and electives. This paper explores a culture of innovation in the CIS business program curriculum that creates sustainable stakeholder value for students, employers, the community, and the university. A quantitative research methodology surveying over one-hundred students in the CIS program will be used to examine factors influencing the success or failure of students taking certification exams. Researchers will analyze control variables to identify specific correlations between practice exams, teaching pedagogy, study time, age, work experience, etc. This study compared various exam preparation techniques to corresponding exam results across several industry certification exams. The findings will aid in understanding control variables with correlations that positively and negatively impact exam results. Such discovery may provide useful insight into pedagogical impact indicators that positively contribute to certification exam success and curriculum enhancement.

Keywords: taking certification exams, exam training, testing skills, exam study aids, certification exam curriculum

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Authors: Tuba Senel Zor, Oktay Aslan

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With current trends in nanoscience and nanotechnology (NST), scientists have paid much attention to education and nanoliteracy in parallel with the developments on these fields. To understand the advances in NST research requires a population with a high degree of science literacy. All citizens should soon need nanoliteracy in order to navigate some of the important science-based issues faced to their everyday lives. While the fields of NST are advancing rapidly and raising their societal significance, general public’s awareness of these fields has remained at a low level. Moreover, students enrolled different education levels and teachers don’t have awareness at expected level. This problem may be stemmed from inadequate education and training. To remove the inadequacy, teachers have greatest duties and responsibilities. Especially science teachers at all levels need to be made aware of these developments and adequately prepared so that they are able to teach about these advances in a developmentally appropriate manner. If the teachers develop understanding and awareness of NST, they can also discuss the topic with their students. Therefore, the awareness and conceptual understandings of both the teachers who will teach science to students and the students who will be introduced about NST should be increased, and the necessary training should be provided. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of NST education on preservice science teachers’ awareness of NST. The study was designed in one group pre-test post-test quasi-experimental pattern. The study was conducted with 32 preservice science teachers attending the Elementary Science Education Program at a large Turkish university in central Anatolia. NST education was given during five weeks as two hours per week. Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Awareness Questionnaire was used as data collected tool and was implemented for pre-test and post-test. The collected data were analyzed using Statistical package for the Social Science (SPSS). The results of data analysis showed that there was a significant difference (z=6.25, p< .05) on NST awareness of preservice science teachers after implemented NST education. The results of the study indicate that NST education has an important effect for improving awareness of preservice science teachers on NST.

Keywords: awareness level, nanoliteracy, nanoscience and nanotechnology education, preservice science teachers

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Authors: Chang Li Yu

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Resistances commonly happened during sexual offenders treatment program (SOTP), and removing resistances was one of the treatment goals on it. Studies concerning treatment effectiveness relied on pre- and post-treatment evaluations, however, no significant difference on resistance revealed after treatment, and the above consequences generally contributed to the low motivation for change instead. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the resistance across each stage of change among sexual offenders (SO). The present study recruited prisoned SO in Taiwan, excluding those with literacy difficulties; finally, 272 participants were included. Of all participants completed revised version of URICA (University of Rhode Island Change Assessment) and resistance scale specifically for SO. The former included four stages of change: pre-contemplation (PC), contemplation (C), action (A), and maintain (M); the later composed eight types of resistance: system blaming, victims blaming, problems with treatment alliance, social justification, hopelessness, isolation, psychological reactance, and passive reactance. Both of the instruments were with well reliability and validity. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA were performed. All of 272 participants, age under 25 were 18(6.6%), 25-39 were 133(48.9%), 40-54 were 102(37.5%), and age over 55 were 19(7.0%); college level and above were 53(19.5%), high school level were 110(40.4%), and under high school level were 109(40.1%); first offended were 117(43.0%), and recidivist were 23(8.5%). Further deleting data with missing values and invalid questionnaires, SO with stage of change on PC were 43(18.9%), C were 109(47.8%), A were 70(30.7%), and on M were 6(2.6%). One-way ANOVA showed significant differences on every kind of resistances, excepting isolation and passive reactance. Post-hoc analysis showed that SO with different stages had their main resistance. There are two contributions to the present study. First, this study provided a clinical and theoretical measurement of evaluation that was never used in the past. Second, this study used an evidence-based methodology to prove a clinical perspective differed from the past, suggesting that resistances to treatment on SO appear the whole therapeutic process, when SO progress into the next stage of change, clinicians have to deal with their main resistance for working through the therapy.

Keywords: resistance, sexual offenders treatment program (SOTP), motivation for change, prisoned sexual offender

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Authors: Una Carthy

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A recent study of third level institutions in Ireland reveals that both age and aptitude can be overcome by teaching methodologies to motivate second language learners. This PhD investigation gathered quantitative and qualitative data from 14 Institutes of Technology over a three years period from 2011 to 2014. The fundamental research question was to establish the impact of institutional language policy on attitudes towards language learning. However, other related issues around second language acquisition arose in the course of the investigation. Data were collected from both lectures and students, allowing interesting points of comparison to emerge from both datasets. Negative perceptions among lecturers regarding language provision were often associated with the view that language learning belongs to primary and secondary level and has no place in third level education. This perception was offset by substantial data showing positive attitudes towards adult language learning. Lenneberg’s Critical Age Theory postulated that the optimum age for learning a second language is before puberty. More recently, scholars have challenged this theory in their studies, revealing that mature learners can and do succeed at learning languages. With regard to aptitude, a preoccupation among lecturers regarding poor literacy skills among students emerged and was often associated with resistance to second language acquisition. This was offset by a preponderance of qualitative data from students highlighting the crucial role which teaching approaches play in the learning process. Interestingly, the data collected regarding learning disabilities reveals that, given the appropriate learning environments, individuals can be motivated to acquire second languages, and indeed succeed at learning them. These findings are in keeping with other recent studies regarding attitudes towards second language learning among students with learning disabilities. Both sets of findings reinforce the case for language policies in the Institute of Technology (IoTs). Supportive and positive learning environments can be created in third level institutions to motivate adult learners, thereby overcoming perceived obstacles relating to age and aptitude.

Keywords: age, aptitude, second language acquisition, teaching methodologies

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Authors: Jiraporn Lao-Un, Dararat Khampusaen

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Lack of exposure to English language in the authentic English setting naturally leads to a lack of fluency in the language. As a result, Thai EFL learners are struggling in meeting with the communication 'can do' descriptors of the Common European Framework of References (CEFR) required by the Ministry of Education. This initial phase of the ongoing study, employing the e-portfolio to promote the English speaking ability, probed into the effects of the use of e-portfolio on Thai EFL nursing students' speaking ability. Also, their opinions towards the use of e-portfolio to enhance their speaking ability were investigated. The participants were 44 undergraduate nursing students at a Thai College of Nursing. The participants undertook four lessons to promote their communication skills according to the CEFR criteria. Throughout the semester, the participants videotaped themselves while completing the four speaking tasks. The videos were then uploaded onto the e-portfolio website where the researcher provided them with the feedbacks. The video records were analyzed by the speaking rubric designed according to the CEFR 'can do' descriptors. Also, students were required to record self-reflections in video format and upload onto the same URL Students' oral self-reflections were coded to find out the perceptions towards the use of the e-portfolio in promoting their speaking ability. The results from the two research instruments suggested the effectiveness of the tool on improving speaking ability, learner autonomy and media literacy skills. In addition, the oral reflection videos revealed positive opinion towards the tool. The discussion offers the current status of English speaking ability among Thai EFL students. This reveals the gaps between the EFL speaking ability and the CEFR ‘can do’ descriptors. In addition, the author raises the light on integration of the 21st century IT tool to enhance these students’ speaking ability. Lastly, the theoretical implications and recommendation for further study in integrating electronic tools to promote language skills in the EFL context are offered for further research.

Keywords: EFL communication, EFL speaking, English communication, E-learning, E-portfolio, speaking ability, Thai EFL learners

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Authors: Masomeh Jamshid Nejad

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Nowadays, statistical literacy is no longer a necessary skill but an essential skill with broad applications across diverse fields, especially in operational decision areas such as business management, finance, and economics. As such, learning and deep understanding of statistical concepts are essential in the context of business studies. One of the crucial topics in statistical theory and its application is the normal distribution, often called a bell-shaped curve. To interpret data and conduct hypothesis tests, comprehending the properties of normal distribution (the mean and standard deviation) is essential for business students. This requires undergraduate students in the field of economics and business management to visualize and work with data following a normal distribution. Since technology is interconnected with education these days, it is important to teach statistics topics in the context of Python, R-studio, and Microsoft Excel to undergraduate students. This research endeavours to shed light on the effect of Excel-based instruction on learners’ knowledge of statistics, specifically the central concept of normal distribution. As such, two groups of undergraduate students (from the Business Management program) were compared in this research study. One group underwent Excel-based instruction and another group relied only on traditional teaching methods. We analyzed experiential data and BBA participants’ responses to statistic-related questions focusing on the normal distribution, including its key attributes, such as the mean and standard deviation. The results of our study indicate that exposing students to Excel-based learning supports learners in comprehending statistical concepts more effectively compared with the other group of learners (teaching with the traditional method). In addition, students in the context of Excel-based instruction showed ability in picturing and interpreting data concentrated on normal distribution.

Keywords: statistics, excel-based instruction, data visualization, pedagogy

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Authors: Panomporn Wisuthseriwong, Hatairuk Tungkasen, Siyaporn Namsongsan, Chanikarn Srinark, Mayuva Youngsabanant-Areekijseree

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The objective of the present study was to evaluate the morphology of porcine cumulus-oocyte complexes (pCOCs) and follicular fluid during follicular development. The samples were obtained from local slaughterhouses in Nakorn Pathom Province, Thailand. Pigs were classified as either in the follicular phase or luteal phase. Porcine follicles (n = 3,510) were categorized as small (1-3 mm in diameters; n=2,910), medium (4-6 mm in diameters; n=530) and large (7-8 mm in diameters; n=70). Then pCOCs and follicular fluid were collected. Finally, we found that the oocytes can be categorized into intact cumulus cells layer oocyte, multi-cumulus cells layer oocyte, partial cumulus cells layer oocyte, completely denuded oocyte and degenerated oocyte. They showed high percentage of intact and multi-cumulus cells layer oocytes from small follicles (54.68%) medium follicles (69.06%) and large follicles (68.57%), which have high potential to develop into matured oocytes in vitro. Protein composition of the follicular fluid was separated by SDS-PAGE technique. The result shows that the protein molecular weight in the small and medium follicles are 23, 50, 66, 75, 92, 100, 132, 163, 225 and >225 kDa. Meanwhile, protein molecular weight in large follicles are 12, 16, 23, 50, 66, 75, 92, 100, 132, 163, 225 and >225 kDa. All proteins play an important role in promotion and regulation on development, maturation of oocytes and regulation of ovulation. We conclude that the results of discovery can be used porcine secretion proteins for supplement in IVM/IVF technology. Acknowledgements: The project was funded by a grant from Silpakorn University Research and Development Institute (SURDI) and Faculty of Science, Silpakorn University, Thailand.

Keywords: porcine follicles, porcine oocyte, follicular fluid, SDS-PAGE

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Authors: Wei Zhao

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The pandemic crisis disrupted normal classroom practices so that the constraints of the traditional practice became apparent. This turns out to be new opportunities for technology-based learning and teaching. However, how the technology supports the preschool teachers go through this sudden crisis and how preschool teachers conceived of the use of technology, appropriate and design technological artifacts as a mediator of knowledge construction in order to suit young children’s literacy level are rarely explored. This study addresses these issues by looking at the influence of a web-supported teacher community on changes/shifts in preschool teachers’ epistemological beliefs and practices. This teachers’ professional development community was formulated before the pandemic time and developed virtually throughout the home-based learning caused by Covid-19. It served as a virtual and asynchronous community for those teachers to collaboratively plan for and conduct online lessons using the knowledge-building approach for the purpose of sustaining children’s learning curiosity and opening up new learning opportunities during the lock-down period. The knowledge-building approach helps to increase teachers’ collective responsibility to collaboratively work on shared educational goals in the teacher community and awareness of noticing new ideas or innovations in their classroom. Based on the data collected across five months during and after the lock-down period and the activity theory, results show a dynamic interplay between the evolution of the community culture, the growth of teacher community and teachers’ identity transformation and professional development. Technology is useful in this regard not only because it transforms the geographical distance and new gathering guidelines after the outbreak of pandemic into new ways of communal communication and collaboration. More importantly, while teachers selected, monitored and adapted the technology, it acts as a catalyst for changes in teachers’ old teaching practices and epistemological dispositions.

Keywords: activity theory, changes in epistemology and practice, knowledge building, web-based teachers’ professional development community

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Authors: Devadrita Dey Sarkar

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Oxidosqualene cyclase is a membrane bound enzyme in which helps in the formation of steroid scaffold in higher organisms. In a highly selective cyclization reaction oxidosqualene cyclase forms LANOSTEROL with seven chiral centres starting from the linear substrate 2,3-oxidosqualene. In humans OSC in cholesterol biosynthesis it represents a target for the discovery of novel anticholesteraemic drugs that could complement the widely used statins. The enzyme oxidosqualene: lanosterol cyclase (OSC) represents a novel target for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. OSC catalyzes the cyclization of the linear 2,3-monoepoxysqualene to lanosterol, the initial four-ringed sterol intermediate in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. OSC also catalyzes the formation of 24(S), 25-epoxycholesterol, a ligand activator of the liver X receptor. Inhibition of OSC reduces cholesterol biosynthesis and selectively enhances 24(S),25-epoxycholesterol synthesis. Through this dual mechanism, OSC inhibition decreases plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and prevents cholesterol deposition within macrophages. The recent crystallization of OSC identifies the mechanism of action for this complex enzyme, setting the stage for the design of OSC inhibitors with improved pharmacological properties for cholesterol lowering and treatment of atherosclerosis. While studying and designing the inhibitor of oxidosqulene cyclase, I worked on the pdb id of 1w6k which was the most worked on pdb id and I used several methods, techniques and softwares to identify and validate the top most molecules which could be acting as an inhibitor for oxidosqualene cyclase. Thus, by partial blockage of this enzyme, both an inhibition of lanosterol and subsequently cholesterol formation as well as a concomitant effect on HMG-CoA reductase can be achieved. Both effects complement each other and lead to an effective control of cholesterol biosynthesis. It is therefore concluded that 2,3-oxidosqualene cyclase plays a crucial role in the regulation of intracellular cholesterol homeostasis. 2,3-Oxidosqualene cyclase inhibitors offer an attractive approach for novel lipid-lowering agents.

Keywords: anticholesteraemic, crystallization, statins, homeostasis

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Authors: Yusuf Ismaila

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The developing countries are characterized by inefficient production systems and unequal distribution of wealth. Developing countries are largely populated, yet under developed. This can be attributed partly to the unplanned efforts towards the development of human capital through education and training. In the developed nations a huge attention is accorded to indices such as life expectancy, literacy, infant mortality, education, and the efficient delivery of social services. This is the reason why many developing countries have been scored low by the United Nations in terms of its human development indicators. The population growth continued to expand far beyond the rate of economic growth, a situation that gave rise to increasing poverty. This paper examines the effect of selected human development indicators on the economic development. Thus human capital development is one of the fundamental solutions to enter the international arena. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were used to demonstrate the effect of selected human capital indices and related literatures were also reviewed for exposition of the human capital concept. It was found that there are no conscious efforts in human capital planning. This has therefore resulted to continuing dwindling of production system and poverty. Recommendations made to redress the situation include that human capital development should be planned and adequately funded in line with the needs of the economy and by applying international standards. Specifically, developing countries must invest necessary resources in developing human capital which tend to have a great impact on sustainable development. Information about the labour market should improve while government policy should favour labour mobility. HCD strategy must focus on improving the skills of the workforce, reducing the cost of doing business and making available the resources business needs to compete and thrive in a fast globalizing economy. There should be regular interaction of planners, employers and builders of human capital to facilitate the process of meaningful national development.

Keywords: economic development, human capital, economic growth, developing countries

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Authors: Thomas Wetere

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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (COVID-19) virus infection is a severe infectious disease with the highly transmissible variant, which become the global public health treat now. It has taken the life of more than 4 million people so far. What makes the disease the worst of all is no specific effective treatment available, its dynamics is not much researched and understood. Methodology: To end the global COVID-19 pandemic, implementation of multiple population-wide strategies, including vaccination, environmental factors, Government action, testing, and contact tracing, is required. In this article, a new mathematical model incorporating both temperature and government action to study the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic has been developed and comprehensively analysed. The model considers eight stages of infection: susceptible (S), infected Asymptomatic and Undetected(IAU ), infected Asymptomatic and detected(IAD), infected symptomatic and Undetected(ISU ), infected Symptomatic and detected(ISD), Hospitalized or threatened(H), Recovered(R) and Died(D). Results: The existence as well as non-negativity of the solution to the model is also verified, and the basic reproduction number is calculated. Besides, stability conditions are also checked, and finally, simulation results are compared with real data. The results demonstrates that effective government action will need to be combined with vaccination to end the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Vaccination and Government action are highly the crucial measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, as the cost of vaccination might be high, we recommend an optimal control to reduce the cost and number of infected individuals. Moreover, in order to prevent COVID-19 pandemic, through the analysis of the model, the government must strictly manage the policy on COVID-19 and carry it out. This, in turn, helps for health campaigning and raising health literacy which plays a role to control the quick spread of the disease. We finally strongly believe that our study will play its own role in the current effort of controlling the pandemic.

Keywords: modeling, COVID-19, MCMC, stability

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Authors: Angalabiri-Owei E. Bekekeme, Brambaifa Nelson

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In view of the peculiar environment of the Niger Delta, access to modern health care is limited, hence the inhabitants especially those in the swampy areas resorts to sourcing for alternatives cure for their ailments using plants commonly found in this area without scientific evaluation. Rhizophora racemosa, G. F. Meyer (Rhizophoraceae) is the most abundant mangrove plant in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria. The plant has been observed to be used for relief of a toothache and dysmenorrhoea among some Ijaw communities in the region. This work has revealed the likely potential of the plant in drug discovery and development. The crude methanol extract at doses of 300 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg (intraperitoneal) were tested for analgesic effect using fresh egg albumin induced inflammatory pain and Randall–Sellito method to assess the pain threshold. The anti-inflammatory effect was also evaluated with the extract at doses of 300 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg (intraperitoneal) using acute inflammatory model; fresh egg albumin induced paw oedema and assessed using Plethysmometer in rats. The methanol extracts 300 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg exhibited a significant (P < 0.001) and dose-dependent analgesic activity compared with the negative control and a standard drug diclofenac using ANOVA with Least Significant Difference post hoc test as evidenced by increased pain threshold. Also, the extract significantly (P < 0.001) reduced the rat paw oedema induced by the sub plantar injection of fresh egg albumin when compared with the negative control and a standard diclofenac using above statistical methods. This study revealed that the plant possesses analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities hence provide scientific bases for use as medicine.

Keywords: analgesic, anti-inflammatory, plethysmometer, Rhizophora racemosa

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Authors: Debasmita Mukhopadhyay, Manika Pal Bhadra

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MiRNAs contribute to oncogenesis either as tumor suppressors or oncogenes. Hence, discovery of miRNA-based therapeutics are imperative to ameliorate cancer. Modulation of miRNA maturation is accomplished via several therapeutic agents, including small molecules and oligonucleotides. Due to the attractive pharmacokinetic properties of small molecules over oligonucleotides, we set to identify small molecule inhibitors of a metastasis-inducing microRNA. Cytotoxicity profile of aza-flavanone C1 was analyzed in a panel of breast cancer cells employing the NCI-60 screen protocols. Flow cytometry, immunofluorescence and western blotting of apoptotic or EMT markers were performed to analyze the effect of C1. A dual luciferase assay unequivocally suggested that C1 repressed endogenous miR-10b in MDA-MB-231 cells. A derivative of aza-flavanone C1 is shown as a strong inhibitor miR-10b. Blockade of miR-10b by C1 resulted in decreased expression of miR-10b targets in an aggressive breast cancer cell line model, MDA-MB-231. Abrogation of TWIST1, an EMT-inducing transcription factor also contributed to C1 mediated apoptosis. Moreover C1 exhibited a specific and selective down-regulation of miR-10b and did not function as a general inhibitor of miRNA biogenesis or other oncomiRs of breast carcinoma. Aza-flavanone congener C1 functions as a potent inhibitor of the metastasis-inducing microRNA, miR-10b. Our present study provides evidence for targeting metastasis-inducing microRNA, miR-10b with a derivative of Aza-flavanone. Better pharmacokinetic properties of small molecules place them as attractive agents compared to nucleic acids based therapies to target miRNA. Further work, in generating analogues based on aza-flavanone moieties will significantly improve the affinity of the small molecules to bind miR-10b. Finally, it is imperative to develop small molecules as novel miRNA-therapeutics in the fight against cancer.

Keywords: breast cancer, microRNA, metastasis, EMT

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Authors: Tanzeela Anbreen, Ammara Maqsood

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Reading into writing is one of university students' most required academic skills. The current study explored postgraduate university students’ writing quality using a corpus-based approach. Twelve postgraduate students’ literature review essays were chosen for the corpus-based analysis. These essays were chosen because students had to incorporate multiple reading sources in these essays, which was a new writing exercise for them. The students were provided feedback at least two times which comprised of the written comments by the tutor highlighting the areas of improvement and also by using the ‘track changes’ function. This exercise was repeated two times, and students submitted two drafts. This investigation included only the finally submitted work of the students. A corpus-based approach was adopted to analyse the essays because it promotes autonomous discovery and personalised learning. The aim of this analysis was to understand the existing level of students’ writing before the start of their postgraduate thesis. Text Inspector was used to analyse the quality of essays. With the help of the Text Inspector tool, the vocabulary used in the essays was compared to the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP), which describes what learners know and can do at each Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level. Writing quality was also measured for the Flesch reading ease score, which is a standard to describe the ease of understanding the writing content. The results reflected that students found writing essays using multiple sources challenging. In most essays, the vocabulary level achieved was between B1-B2 of the CEFL level. The study recommends that students need extensive training in developing academic writing skills, particularly in writing the literature review type assignment, which requires multiple sources citations.

Keywords: literature review essays, postgraduate students, corpus-based analysis, vocabulary proficiency

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Authors: Taleb L., Benarbia M., Boutira F. M., Allam H., Boukerche A.

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Introduction and purpose of the study: Meningiomas are the most common non-glial intracranial tumors in adults, accounting for approximately 30% of all central nervous system tumors. The aim of our study is to determine the epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic, and evolutionary characteristics of a cohort of patients with intracranial meningioma treated with radiotherapy at the Emir Abdelkader Cancer Center in Oran. Material and methods: This is a retrospective study of 44 patients during the period from 2014 to 2020. The overall survival and relapse-free survival curves were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results and statistical analysis: The median age of the patients was 49 years [21-76 years] with a clear female predominance (sex ratio=2.4). The average diagnostic delay was seven months [2 to 24 months], the circumstances of the discovery of which were dominated by headaches in 54.5% of cases (n=24), visual disturbances in 40.9% (n=18), and motor disorders in 15.9% (n=7). The seat of the tumor was essentially at the level of the base of the skull in 52.3% of patients (n=23), including 29.5% (n=13) at the level of the cavernous sinus, 27.3% (n=12) at the parasagittal level and 20.5% (n=9) at the convexity. The diagnosis was confirmed surgically in 36 patients (81.8%) whose anatomopathological study returned in favor of grades I, II, and III in respectively 40.9%, 29.5%, and 11.4% of the cases. Radiotherapy was indicated postoperatively in 45.5% of patients (n=20), exclusive in 27.3% (n=12) and after tumor recurrence in 27.3% of cases (n=18). The irradiation doses delivered were as follows: 50 Gy (20.5%), 54 Gy (65.9%), and 60 Gy (13.6%). With a median follow-up of 69 months, the probabilities of relapse-free survival and overall survival at three years are 93.2% and 95.4%, respectively, whereas they are 71.2% and 80.7% at five years. Conclusion: Meningiomas are common primary brain tumors. Most often benign but can also progress aggressively. Their treatment is essentially surgical, but radiotherapy retains its place in specific situations, allowing good tumor control and overall survival.

Keywords: diagnosis, meningioma, surgery, radiotherapy, survival

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Authors: Umairah Natasya Binti Mohd Omeershffudin, Suresh Kumar

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Klebsiella pneumoniae, a Gram-negative enteric bacterium that causes nosocomial and urinary tract infections. Particular concern is the global emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Characterization of antibiotic resistance determinants at the genomic level plays a critical role in understanding, and potentially controlling, the spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens. In this study, drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strain 825795-1 was investigated with extensive computational approaches aimed at identifying novel drug targets among hypothetical proteins. We have analyzed 1099 hypothetical proteins available in genome. We have used in-silico genome subtraction methodology to design potential and pathogen-specific drug targets against Klebsiella pneumoniae. We employed bioinformatics tools to subtract the strain-specific paralogous and host-specific homologous sequences from the bacterial proteome. The sorted 645 proteins were further refined to identify the essential genes in the pathogenic bacterium using the database of essential genes (DEG). We found 135 unique essential proteins in the target proteome that could be utilized as novel targets to design newer drugs. Further, we identified 49 cytoplasmic protein as potential drug targets through sub-cellular localization prediction. Further, we investigated these proteins in the DrugBank databases, and 11 of the unique essential proteins showed druggability according to the FDA approved drug bank databases with diverse broad-spectrum property. The results of this study will facilitate discovery of new drugs against Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Keywords: pneumonia, drug target, hypothetical protein, subtractive genomics

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Authors: Hassan Sher

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Agriculture has a pivotal role in Pakistan’s economy, accounting for about one-fourth of the GDP and employing almost half the population. However, the competitiveness, productivity, growth, employment potential, export opportunity, and contribution to GDP of the sector is significantly hampered by agriculture marketing laws/regulations at the provincial level that reward rent seeking behavior, promote monopoly power, artificially reduce farmer incomes while inflating prices to consumers, and act as disincentives to investment. Although of more recent vintage than some other provincial agricultural marketing laws, the NWFP Agricultural and Livestock Produce Markets Act, 2007 is a throwback to a colonial paradigm, where restrictions on agricultural produce marketing and Government control of distribution channels is the norm. The Swat Valley (in which we include its tributary valleys) is an area of Pakistan in which there is poverty is both extreme and pervasive. For many, a significant portion of the family’s income comes from selling plants that are used as herbs, medicines, and perfumes. Earlier studies have shown that the benefit they derive from this work is less than they might because of: Lack of knowledge concerning which plants and which plant parts are valuable, Lack of knowledge concerning optimal preservation and storage of material, illiteracy. Another concern that much of the plant material sold from the valley is collected in the wild, without an appreciation of the negative impact continued collecting has on wild populations. We propose: Creating colored cards to help inhabitants recognize the 25 most valuable plants in their area; Developing and sharing protocols for growing the 25 most valuable plants in a home garden; Developing and sharing efficient mechanisms for drying plants so they do not lose value; Encouraging increased literacy by incorporating numbers and a few words in the handouts.

Keywords: food security, medicinal plants, industrial plants, economic development

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Authors: Anwar Hassen Tsega

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International labor migration is an integral part of the modern globalized world. However, the phenomenon has its roots in some earlier periods in human history. This paper discusses the relatively new phenomenon of female migration in Africa. In the past, African women migrants were only spouses or dependent family members. But as modernity swept most African societies, with rising unemployment rates, there is evidence everywhere in Africa that women labor migration is a growing phenomenon that deserves to be understood in the context of human security research. This work explores these issues further, focusing on the experience of Ethiopian women labor migrants to Sudan. The migration of Ethiopian people to Sudan is historical; nevertheless, labor migration mainly started since the discovery and subsequent exploration of oil in the Sudan. While the paper is concerned with the human security aspect of the migrant workers, we need to be certain that the migration process will provide with a decent wage, good working conditions, the necessary social security coverage, and labor protection as a whole. However, migration to Sudan is not always safe and female migrants become subject to violence at the hands of brokers, employers and migration officials. For this matter, the paper argued that identifying the vulnerable stages and major problem facing female migrant workers at various stages of migration is a prerequisite to combat the problem and secure the lives of the migrant workers. The major problems female migrants face include extra degrees of gender-based violence, underpayment, various forms of abuse like verbal, physical and sexual and other forms of torture which include beating and slaps. This peculiar situation could be attributed to the fact that most of these women are irregular migrants and fall under the category of unskilled and/or illiterate migrants.

Keywords: Ethiopia, human security, labor migration, Sudan

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