Search results for: total versus native population

Authors: May George

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Native speakers can play a significant role in improving second language learners speaking skills through weekly interaction. Speaking is one of the important skills that second language learners need to practice in order to be able to communicate the language. This study will examine Talkaboard as an important tool to achieve better outcomes in speaking a language. The subject of the study will be 16 advanced Arabic language learners at the college level. There will be a pre-test and post-test to examine the conversation outcomes using the Talkaborad tool. The students will be asked to write a summary and talk about their weekly conversation experience with the native speaker in class. The teacher will use a check list to determine the progress made in speaking the Arabic language. The results of this study will provide language teachers with information related to the native speakers’ role in language and the progress the second language learners made after interacting with native speakers.

Keywords: speaking, language, interaction, culture

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Authors: Nicole Harley, Mahmoud Eid, Abdurahman Tarmal, Vishal Dey

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Histological sampling plays an integral role in the diagnostic process of renal diseases. Percutaneous native renal biopsy is typically performed under ultrasound guidance, with this service usually being provided by nephrologists. In some centers, there is a role for radiologists in performing renal biopsies. Previous comparative studies have demonstrated non-inferiority between outcomes of percutaneous native renal biopsies performed by nephrologists compared with radiologists. We sought to compare biopsy adequacy between nephrologists and radiologists in University Hospital Crosshouse. The online system SERPR (Scottish Electronic Renal Patient Record) contains information pertaining to patients who have undergone renal biopsies. An online search was performed to acquire a list of all patients who underwent renal biopsy between 2013 and 2020 in University Hospital Crosshouse. 355 native renal biopsies were performed in total across this 7-year period. A retrospective analysis was performed on these cases, with records and reports being assessed for: the total number of glomeruli obtained per biopsy, whether the number of glomeruli obtained was adequate for diagnosis, as per an internationally agreed standard, and whether a histological diagnosis was achieved. Nephrologists performed 43.9% of native renal biopsies (n=156) and radiologists performed 56.1% (n=199). The mean number of glomeruli obtained by nephrologists was 17.16+/-10.31. The mean number of glomeruli obtained by radiologists was 18.38+/-10.55. T-test demonstrated no statistically significant difference between specialties comparatively (p-value 0.277). Native renal biopsies are required to obtain at least 8 glomeruli to be diagnostic as per internationally agreed criteria. Nephrologists met these criteria in 88.5% of native renal biopsies (n=138) and radiologists met this criteria in 89.5% (n=178). T-test and Chi-squared analysis demonstrate there was no statistically significant difference between the specialties comparatively (p-value 0.663 and 0.922, respectively). Biopsies performed by nephrologists yielded tissue that was diagnostic in 91.0% (n=142) of sampling. Biopsies performed by radiologists yielded tissue that was diagnostic in 92.4% (n=184) of sampling. T-test and Chi-squared analysis demonstrate there was no statistically significant difference between the specialties comparatively (p-value 0.625 and 0.889, respectively). This project demonstrates that at University Hospital Crosshouse, there is no statistical difference between radiologists and nephrologists in terms of glomeruli acquisition or samples achieving a histological diagnosis. Given the non-inferiority between specialties demonstrated by previous studies and this project, this evidence could support the restructuring of services to allow more renal biopsies to be performed by renal services and allow reallocation of radiology department resources.

Keywords: biopsy, medical imaging, nephrology, radiology

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Authors: Simin Sasani

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This study will explore a group of English language teachers’ understanding of intercultural competence to find out if they are aware of the concept and how important it is for them. It will investigate how much they are concerned about the challenges that the learners might face in their intercultural communications and to what extent they can help the learners to overcome the barriers to increase students’ insight into cultural differences. In addition, it will explore how a group of non-native English language teachers define culture in relation to their English language teaching practices. More specifically, the research tries to take the how and why of inclusion of intercultural competence into consideration and how non-native teachers think they can improve their learners’ knowledge and skills in this domain. The study will be conducted in the UK and the participants are eight non-native English language teachers who are currently teaching general English language courses for foreigners. A pilot study have been conducted for this research which its results show three non-native English teachers are aware of the notion although they have not had any formal education about intercultural competence. Their challenges and limitation were also highlighted through interviews and observations.

Keywords: English, English language teachers, intercultural communications, intercultural competence, non-natives

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Authors: Philip Vercoe, Ali Hardan

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Samples of 29 Australian wild natives and exotic plants were tested in vitro batch rumen culture system for their methanogenic characteristics and potential usage as feed or antimicrobial to enhance sustainable livestock ruminant production system. The plants were tested for their in vitro rumen fermentation end products properties which include: methane production, total gas pressure, concentrations of total volatile fatty acids, ammonia, and acetate to propionate ratio. All of the plants were produced less methane than the positive control (i.e., oaten chaff) in vitro. Nearly 50 % of plants inhibiting methane by over 50% in comparison to the control. Eremophila granitica had the strongest inhibitory effect about 92 % on methane production comparing with oaten chaff. The exotic weed Arctotheca calendula (Capeweed) had the highest concentration of volatile fatty acids production as well as the highest in total gas pressure among all plants and the control. Some of the acacia species have the lowest production of total gas pressure. The majority of the plants produced more ammonia than the oaten chaff control. The plant species that produced the most ammonia was Codonocarpus cotinifolius, producing over 3 times as much methane as oaten chaff control while the lowest was Eremophila galeata. There was strong positive correlation between methane production and total gas production as well as between total gas production and the concentration of VFA produced with R² = 0.74, R² = 0.84, respectively. While there was weak positive correlation between methane production and the acetate to propionate ratio as well as between the concentration of VFA produced and methane production with R² = 0.41, R² = 0.52, respectively.

Keywords: in vitro Rumen Fermentation, methane, wild Australian native plants, forages

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Authors: Randall Gray Underwood

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Within the past few decades, zombie cinema has evolved from a niche outgrowth of the horror genre into one of the most widely-discussed and thoroughly-analyzed subgenres of film. Rising to international popularity during the 1970s and 1980s following the release of George Romero’s landmark classic, Night of the Living Dead (1968), and its much-imitated sequel, Dawn of the Dead (1978), the zombie genre returned to global screens in full force at the turn of the century following earth-shattering events such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, America’s subsequent war in the Middle East, environmental pandemics, and the emergence of a divided and disconnected global populace in the age of social media. Indeed, the presence of the zombie in all manner of art and entertainment—movies, literature, television, video games, comic books, and more—has become nothing short of pervasive, engendering a plethora of scholarly writings, books, opinion pieces, and video essays from all manner of academics, cultural commentators, critics, and casual fans, with each espousing their own theories regarding the zombie’s allegorical and symbolic value within global fiction. Consequently, the walking dead of recent years have been variously positioned as fictive manifestations of human fears of societal collapse, environmental contagion, sexually-transmitted disease, primal regression, dwindling population rates, global terrorism, and the foreign “Other”. Less commonly analyzed within film scholarship, however, is the connection between the zombie’s folkloric roots and native African/Haitian spiritual practice; specifically, how this connection impacts the zombie’s presentation in African films by native storytellers versus in similar narratives told from a western perspective. This work will examine the unlikely connections and contrasts inherent the portrayal of the traditional African/Haitian zombie (or zombi, in Haitian French) in the Nollywood film Witchdoctor of the Livingdead (1985, Charles Abi Enonchong) versus its depiction in the early Hollywood films White Zombie (1932, Victor Halperin) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943, Jacques Tourneur), through analysis of each cinemas’ use of the zombie as a visual metaphor for subjugation/slavery, as well as differences in their representation of the the spiritual folklore from which the figure of the zombie originates. Select films from the post-Night of the Living Dead zombie cinema landscape will also warrant brief discussion in relation to Witchdoctor of the Livingdead.

Keywords: Nollywood, Zombie cinema, Horror cinema, Classical Hollywood

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Authors: S. Mohamed, D. Gonzalez, C. Sayada, P. Halfon

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Drug resistance mutations are routinely detected using standard Sanger sequencing, which does not detect minor variants with a frequency below 20%. The impact of detecting minor variants generated by ultra-deep sequencing (UDS) on HIV drug-resistance (DR) interpretations has not yet been studied. Fifty HIV-1 patients who experienced virological failure were included in this retrospective study. The HIV-1 UDS protocol allowed the detection and quantification of HIV-1 protease and reverse transcriptase variants related to genotypes A, B, C, E, F, and G. DeepChek®-HIV simplified DR interpretation software was used to compare Sanger sequencing and UDS. The total time required for the UDS protocol was found to be approximately three times longer than Sanger sequencing with equivalent reagent costs. UDS detected all of the mutations found by population sequencing and identified additional resistance variants in all patients. An analysis of DR revealed a total of 643 and 224 clinically relevant mutations by UDS and Sanger sequencing, respectively. Three resistance mutations with > 20% prevalence were detected solely by UDS: A98S (23%), E138A (21%) and V179I (25%). A significant difference in the DR interpretations for 19 antiretroviral drugs was observed between the UDS and Sanger sequencing methods. Y181C and T215Y were the most frequent mutations associated with interpretation differences. A combination of UDS and DeepChek® software for the interpretation of DR results would help clinicians provide suitable treatments. A cut-off of 1% allowed a better characterisation of the viral population by identifying additional resistance mutations and improving the DR interpretation.

Keywords: HIV-1, ultra-deep sequencing, Sanger sequencing, drug resistance

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Authors: Yanyan Wang

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This paper on second language teaching and learning uses conversation analysis (CA) approach and focuses on how second language learners of Chinese do repair when making clarification requests. In order to demonstrate their behavior in interaction, a comparison was made to study the differences between native speakers of Chinese with non-native speakers of Chinese. The significance of the research is to make second language teachers and learners aware of repair and how to seek clarification. Utilizing the methodology of CA, the research involved two sets of naturally occurring recordings, one of native speaker students and the other of non-native speaker students. Both sets of recording were telephone talks between students and teachers. There were 50 native speaker students and 50 non-native speaker students. From multiple listening to the recordings, the parts with repairs for clarification were selected for analysis which included the moments in the talk when students had problems in understanding or hearing the speaker and had to seek clarification. For example, ‘Sorry, I do not understand ‘and ‘Can you repeat the question? ‘were the parts as repair to make clarification requests. In the data, there were 43 such cases from native speaker students and 88 cases from non-native speaker students. The non-native speaker students were more likely to use repair to seek clarification. Analysis on how the students make clarification requests during their conversation was carried out by investigating how the students initiated problems and how the teachers repaired the problems. In CA term, it is called other-initiated self-repair (OISR), which refers to student-initiated teacher-repair in this research. The findings show that, in initiating repair, native speaker students pay more attention to mutual understanding (inter-subjectivity) while non-native speaker students, due to their lack of language proficiency, pay more attention to their status of knowledge (epistemic) switch. There are three major differences: 1, native Chinese students more often initiate closed-class OISR (seeking specific information in the request) such as repeating a word or phrases from the previous turn while non-native students more frequently initiate open-class OISR (not specifying clarification) such as ‘sorry, I don’t understand ‘. 2, native speakers’ clarification requests are treated by the teacher as understanding of the content while non-native learners’ clarification requests are treated by teacher as language proficiency problem. 3, native speakers don’t see repair as knowledge issue and there is no third position in the repair sequences to close repair while non-native learners take repair sequence as a time to adjust their knowledge. There is clear closing third position token such as ‘oh ‘ to close repair sequence so that the topic can go back. In conclusion, this paper uses conversation analysis approach to compare differences between native Chinese speakers and non-native Chinese learners in their ways of conducting repair when making clarification requests. The findings are useful in future Chinese language teaching and learning, especially in teaching pragmatics such as requests.

Keywords: conversation analysis (CA), clarification request, second language (L2), teaching implication

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Authors: C. Noknoi, W. Boripunt, K. Boomid, S. Suwitphanwong

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This research studies the factors influencing the wages of native workers in Thailand's construction industry. The sample used comprised some 156 native construction workers from Songkhla Province, Thailand. The utilized research instrument was a questionnaire, with the data being analyzed according to frequency, percentage, and regression analysis. The results revealed that in general, native Thai construction workers are generally married males aged between 26 and 37 years old. They typically have four to six years of education, are employed as laborers with an average salary of 4,000–9,200 baht per month, and have fewer than five years of work experience. Most Thai workers work five days a week. Each establishment typically has 10–30 employees, with fewer than 10 of these being migrant workers in general. Most Thai workers are at a 20% to 40% risk from work, and they have never changed employer. The average wage of Thai workers was found to be 10,843.03 baht per month with a standard deviation of 4,898.31 baht per month. Hypothesis testing revealed that position, work experience, and the number of times they had switched employer were the factors most affecting the wages of native Thai construction workers. These three factors alone explain the salaries of Thai construction workers at 51.9%.  

Keywords: construction industry, native workers, Thailand, wages

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Authors: Zeliha Erdogan, Hatice Torcu Koc

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The fish, Sarpa salpa (L.), is one of the main macroherbivores in the Mediterranean. A total of 600 Salema individuals were collected from around Gökçeada, Sea of Northern Aegean, between January 2014 and January 2015 in order to evaluate some information on the biology of the Salema population. For this aim, measurements of the Salema were obtained using a caliper. The age readings were made from otoliths. The population was composed of 6 age classes (I-VI). The total lengths and total weights of sampled fish were determined to be ranged from 12.5 to 33.1 cm and 33.57 to 559.33 g, respectively. Length-weight relationship for all individuals was calculated as W=0.0085*L3.1723, R2=0.9524. Growth parameters were determined as L∞= 35.55cm, k=0.31, t0= -9.2, '=2.60. As the sexual ratio was 1.08:1 (M: F), the Salema population consisted of 51.66% male and 47.5% female individuals. The highest average condition factors were observed for females in May (1.68) and for males in May (1.67). According to gonad somatic index values, the spawning period was determined twice a year in spring (April) and autumn (October). The highest average hepatosomatix index value was observed for all individuals in May and December. It was estimated that total (Z) mortality, natural (M) mortality, and fishing (F) mortality rates were Z=0.44 year-1, M=0.064 year-1 and F=0.38 year-1, respectively. As the exploitation rate was estimated as E=0.86, it can be shown that the Salema stock was highly influenced by overfishing.

Keywords: biology, sarpa salpa, Gökceada, meadows

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Authors: Gurubasavaraju T. M.

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The magnetorheological (MR) damper could provide variable damping force with respect to the different input magnetic field. The damping force could be estimated through computational analysis using finite element and computational fluid dynamics analysis. The double-ended damper operates without changing the total volume of fluid. In this paper, damping force of double ended damper under different magnetic field is computed. Initially, the magneto-statics analysis carried out to evaluate the magnetic flux density across the fluid flow gap. The respective change in the rheology of the MR fluid is computed by using the experimentally fitted polynomial equation of shear stress versus magnetic field plot of MR fluid. The obtained values are substituted in the Herschel Buckley model to express the non-Newtonian behavior of MR fluid. Later, using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis damping characteristics in terms of force versus velocity and force versus displacement for the respective magnetic field is estimated. The purpose of the present approach is to characterize the preliminary designed MR damper before fabricating.

Keywords: MR fluid, double ended MR damper, CFD, FEA

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Authors: Imoh Philip

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This work investigates four verbal extensions; two in each set resulting in two opposite effects of the valency of verbs in Basà language. Basà language is an indigenous language spoken in Kogi, Nasarawa, Benue, Niger states and all the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) councils. Crozier & Blench (1992) and Blench & Williamson (1988) classify Basà as belonging to Proto–Kru, under the sub-phylum Western –Kru. It studies the effects of such morphosyntactic operations in Basà language with special focus on ‘reflexives’ ‘reciprocals’ versus ‘causativization’ and ‘applicativization’ both sets are characterized by polar syntactic processes of either decreasing or increasing the verb’s valency by one argument vis-à-vis the basic number of arguments, but by the similar morphological processes. In addition to my native intuitions as a native speaker of Basà language, data elicited for this work include discourse observation, staged and elicited spoken data from fluent native speakers. The paper argues that affixes attached to the verb root, result in either deriving an intransitive verb from a transitive one or a transitive verb from a bi/ditransitive verb and equally increase the verb’s valence deriving either a bitransitive verb from a transitive verb or a transitive verb from a intransitive one. Where the operation increases the verb’s valency, it triggers a transformation of arguments in the derived structure. In this case, the applied arguments displace the inherent ones. This investigation can stimulate further study on other transformations that are either syntactic or morphosyntactic in Basà and can also be replicated in other African and non-African languages.

Keywords: verbal extension, valency, reflexive, reciprocal, causativization, applicativization, Basà

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Authors: Waleed El-Said Abou El-Amaiem

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Sole hemorrhages are considered as a main cause for sub clinical laminitis. In this study we aimed at discussing the most prominent risk factors associated with sole hemorrhages causing lameness in Egyptian water buffaloes and native breed cows. The final multivariate logistic regression model showed, a significant association between sub acute ruminal acidosis (P< 0.05), limb affected (P< 0.05) and weight (P< 0.05) and sole hemorrhages causing lameness in Egyptian water buffaloes and native breed cows. According to our knowledge, this is the first paper to discuss the risk factors associated with sole hemorrhages causing lameness in Egyptian water buffaloes and native breed cows.

Keywords: lameness, buffalo, sole hemorrhages, breed cows

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Authors: L. Almulla

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Native plants are better adapted to the local environment providing a more natural effect on landscape projects; their use will both conserve natural resources and produce sustainable greenery. Continuation of evaluation of additional native plants is essential to increase diversity of plant resources for greenery projects. Therefore, in this project an effort was made to study the mass multiplication of further native plants for greenery applications. Standardization of vegetative propagation methods is essential for conservation and sustainable utilization of native plants in restoration projects. Moreover, these simple propagation methods can be readily adapted by the local nursery sector in Kuwait. In the present study, various treatments were used to mass multiply selected plants using vegetative parts to secure maximum rooting and initial growth. Soft or semi-hardwood cuttings of selected native plants were collected from mother plants and subjected to different treatments. Pennisetum divisum can be vegetatively propagated by cuttings/off-shoots. However, Tamarix aucheriana showed maximum number of rooted cuttings and stronger vigor seedlings with the lowest growth hormone concentration. Standardizing the propagation techniques for the native plant species will add to the rehabilitation and landscape revegetation projects in Kuwait.

Keywords: Kuwait desert, landscape, rooting percentage, vegetative propagation

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Authors: Macarena-Paz Celume, Sylvie Tordjman

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There is still no consensus regarding the differences between gifted and non-gifted students in relationship to their self-esteem and the impact that this might have on behavioral and emotional troubles. In fact, some studies present no difference between both groups or present gifted population having higher scores in self-esteem, while others indicate all the opposite, presenting lower self-esteem in gifted population, suggesting that self-esteem issues are probably due to the fact that gifted children who present low self-esteem might not consider their high Intellectual Quotient (IQ) as a positive characteristic, thus leading to behavioral or emotional troubles. According to the author's knowledge, there is poor evidence trying to understand self-esteem issues in troubled gifted and non-gifted students in France, also finding an important lack regarding the possible moderators that might influence self-esteem. This study aimed to validate the results of these samples, looking for age and sex moderators in order to present recent evidence for the study of self-esteem in troubled gifted students in France. This study analysed the data gathered in the past 12 years for troubled students attending to the National Centre for Assistance to High Potential of Children and Adolescents (CNAHP) in France comparing the results of gifted versus non-gifted population. Primary results showed no significant differences between the groups in global self-esteem (t=1,15 p < .25), consistent with correlation analysis that found no correlation between global self-esteem and total IQ for each of the groups (rgifted=.04, rnon-gifted=.-08). Nevertheless, an ANOVA analysis showed an important effect of giftedness over academic self-esteem even though no significant differences were found (t=1,8 p < .06). No significant differences between sex regarding global self-esteem in any of the groups were found. Nevertheless, non-gifted population showed a significant difference in physical self-esteem, being higher for boys than for girls (t=2.65 p < .01). Sex and age moderator analyses for self-esteem will be presented and discussed.

Keywords: children and adolescents, giftedness, self-esteem, troubled children and adolescents

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Authors: Ashit Syngle, Inderjit Verma, Pawan Krishan

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Objective: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have reparative potential in overcoming the endothelial dysfunction and reducing cardiovascular risk. EPC depletion has been demonstrated in the setting of established atherosclerotic diseases. With this background, we evaluated whether reduced EPCs population are associated with endothelial dysfunction, subclinical atherosclerosis and inflammatory markers in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients without any known traditional cardiovascular risk factor in AS patients. Methods: Levels of circulating EPCs (CD34+/CD133+), brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and inflammatory markers i.e erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), tissue necrosis factor (TNF)–α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1 were assessed in 30 AS patients (mean age33.41 ± 10.25; 11 female and 19 male) who fulfilled the modified New York diagnostic criteria with 25 healthy volunteers (mean age 29.36± 8.64; 9 female and 16 male) matched for age and sex. Results: EPCs (CD34+/CD133+) cells were significantly (0.020 ± 0.001% versus 0.040 ± 0.010%, p<0.001) reduced in patients with AS compared to healthy controls. Endothelial function (7.35 ± 2.54 versus 10.27 ±1.73, p=0.002), CIMT (0.63 ± 0.01 versus 0.35 ± 0.02, p < 0.001) and inflammatory markers were also significantly (p < 0.01) altered as compared to healthy controls. Specifically, CD34+CD133+cells were inversely multivariate correlated with CRP and TNF-α and endothelial dysfunction was positively correlated with reduced number of EPC. Conclusion: Depletion of EPCs population is an independent predictor of endothelial dysfunction and early atherosclerosis in AS patients and may provide additional information beyond conventional risk factors and inflammatory markers.

Keywords: endothelial progenitor cells, atherosclerosis, ankylosing spondylitis, cardiovascular

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Authors: Emmanuel Kamal Aziz Saba, Sarah Sayed El-Tawab

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The present study was conducted to assess the involvement of ulnar sensory and/or motor nerve fibers in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and whether this affects the accuracy of the median versus ulnar comparative tests. The present study included 145 CTS hands and 71 asymptomatic control hands. Clinical examination was done. The following tests were done: Sensory conduction studies: median, ulnar and dorsal ulnar cutaneous nerves; and median versus ulnar digit (D) four sensory comparative study; and motor conduction studies: median nerve, ulnar nerve and median versus ulnar motor comparative study. It was found that 17 CTS hands (11.7%) had ulnar sensory abnormalities in 17 different patients. The median versus ulnar sensory and motor comparative studies were abnormal among all these 17 CTS hands. There were significant negative correlations between median motor latency and both ulnar sensory amplitudes recording D5 and D4. In conclusion, there is ulnar sensory nerve abnormality among CTS patients. This abnormality affects the amplitude of ulnar sensory nerve action potential. This does not affect the median versus ulnar sensory and motor comparative tests accuracy for use in CTS.

Keywords: median nerve, motor comparative study, sensory comparative study, ulnar nerve

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Authors: Ibrahim Ahmed, Richard Amoateng, Akhil Jain, Mohamed Ahmed

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Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a type of acquired cardiomyopathy caused by chronic alcohol consumption. Frequently ACM is associated with arrhythmias such as atrial flutter. Our aim was to characterize the patient demographics and investigate the effect of atrial flutter (AF) on ACM. This was a retrospective cohort study using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database to identify admissions in adults with principal and secondary diagnoses of alcoholic cardiomyopathy and atrial flutter from 2019. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were adjusted for age, gender, race, household income, insurance status, Elixhauser comorbidity score, hospital location, bed size, and teaching status. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality, and secondary outcomes were the length of stay (LOS) and total charge in USD. There was a total of 21,855 admissions with alcoholic cardiomyopathy, of which 1,635 had atrial flutter (AF-ACM). Compared to Non-AF-ACM cohort, AF-ACM cohort had fewer females (4.89% vs 14.54%, p<0.001), were older (58.66 vs 56.13 years, p<0.001), fewer Native Americans (0.61% vs2.67%, p<0.01), had fewer smaller (19.27% vs 22.45%, p<0.01) & medium-sized hospitals (23.24% vs28.98%, p<0.01), but more large-sized hospitals (57.49% vs 48.57%, p<0.01), more Medicare (40.37% vs 34.08%, p<0.05) and fewer Medicaid insured (23.55% vs 33.70%, p=<0.001), fewer hypertension (10.7% vs 15.01%, p<0.05), and more obesity (24.77% vs 16.35%, p<0.001). Compared to Non-AF-ACM cohort, there was no difference in AF-ACM cohort mortality rate (6.13% vs 4.20%, p=0.0998), unadjusted mortality OR 1.49 (95% CI 0.92-2.40, p=0.102), adjusted mortality OR 1.36 (95% CI 0.83-2.24, p=0.221), but there was a difference in LOS 1.23 days (95% CI 0.34-2.13, p<0.01), total charge $28,860.30 (95% CI 11,883.96-45,836.60, p<0.01). In patients admitted with ACM, the presence of AF was not associated with a higher all-cause mortality rate or odds of all-cause mortality; however, it was associated with 1.23 days increase in LOS and a $28,860.30 increase in total hospitalization charge. Native Americans, older age and obesity were risk factors for the presence of AF in ACM.

Keywords: alcoholic cardiomyopathy, atrial flutter, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia

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Authors: Kamel Allaw, Jocelyne Adjizian Gerard, Makram Chehayeb, Nada Badaro Saliba

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In developing countries, such as Lebanon, the demographic data are hardly available due to the absence of the mechanization of population system. The aim of this study is to evaluate, using only remote sensing data, the correlations between the number of population and the characteristics of roads network (length of primary roads, length of secondary roads, total length of roads, density and percentage of roads and the number of intersections). In order to find the influence of the different factors on the demographic data, we studied the degree of correlation between each factor and the number of population. The results of this study have shown a strong correlation between the number of population and the density of roads and the number of intersections.

Keywords: population, road network, statistical correlations, remote sensing

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Authors: Laura E. Monroe

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As more non-native English-speaking students enroll in English-medium universities, even more faculty will instruct students who are unprepared for the rigors of post-secondary academic writing in English. Many faculty members lack training and knowledge regarding the assessment of non-native English-speaking students’ writing, as well as the ability to provide effective feedback. This quantitative study investigated the possible attitudinal factors, including demographics, which might affect faculty preparedness and grading practices for both native and non-native English-speaking students’ academic writing and plagiarism, as well as the reasons faculty do not deduct points from both populations’ writing errors. Structural equation modeling and SPSS Statistics were employed to analyze the results of a faculty questionnaire disseminated to individuals who had taught non-native English-speaking students in academic subject courses. The findings from this study illustrated that faculty’s native language, years taught, and institution type were significant factors in not deducting points for academic writing errors and plagiarism, and the major reasons for not deducting points for errors were that faculty had too many students to grade, not enough training in assessing student written errors and plagiarism and that the errors and plagiarism would have taken too long to explain. The practical implications gleaned from these results can be applied to most departments in English-medium post-secondary institutions regarding faculty preparedness and training in student academic writing errors and plagiarism, and recommendations for future research are given for similar types of preparation and guidance for post-secondary faculty, regardless of degree path or academic subject.

Keywords: assessment, faculty, non-native English-speaking students, writing

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Authors: Dan Xie

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The use of discourse markers (DMs) can play a crucial role in representing discourse interaction and pragmatic competence. Learners’ use of DMs and differences between native speakers (NSs) and non-native speakers (NNSs) in the use of various DMs have been the focus of considerable research attention. However, some commonly used DMs, such as you know, have not received as much attention in comparative studies, especially in the Chinese context. This study analyses data in two corpora (COLSEC and Spoken BNC 2014 (14-25)) to investigate how Chinese learners differ from NNSs in their use of the DM you know and its functions in speech. The results show that there is a significant difference between the two corpora in terms of the frequency of use of you know. In terms of the functions of you know, the study shows that six functions can all be present in both corpora, although there are significant differences between the five functional dimensions, especially in introducing a claim linked to the prior discourse and highlighting particular points in the discourse. It is hoped to show empirically how Chinese learners and NSs use DMs differently.

Keywords: you know, discourse marker, native speaker, Chinese learner

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Authors: Mohammed S. Bhader, Abdullah A. Ghaddaf, Anas Alamoudi, Amal Abualola, Renad Kalantan, Noura Alkhulaifi, Ibrahim Halawani, Mohammed Alhindi

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Background: Noninvasive neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) is a relatively new mode of noninvasive ventilation with promising clinical and patient-ventilator outcomes for preterm infants. The aim of this systematic review was to compare NAVA to nasal continuous or positive airway pressure (NCPAP) or intermittent positive airway pressure (NIPP) for preterm infants. Methods: We searched the online databases Medline, Embase, and CENTRAL. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared NAVA to NCPAP or NIPP for preterm infants < 37 weeks gestational age. We sought to evaluate the following outcomes: noninvasive intubation failure rate, desaturation rate, the fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2), and length of stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We used the mean difference (MD) to represent continuous outcomes, while the odds ratio (OR) was used to represent dichotomous outcomes. Results: A total of 11 RCTs that enrolled 429 preterm infants were deemed eligible. NAVA showed similar clinical outcomes to NCPAP or NIPP with respect to noninvasive intubation failure (RR for NAVA versus NCPAP: 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.49 to 1.37), desaturation rate (RR for NAVA versus NCPAP: 0.69, 95%CI: 0.36 to 1.29; RR for NAVA versus NIPP: 0.58, 95%CI: 0.08 to 4.25), FiO2 (MD for NAVA versus NCPAP: –0.01, 95%CI: –0.04 to 0.02; MD for NAVA versus NIPP: –7.16, 95%CI: –22.63 to 8.31), and length of stay in the NICU (MD for NAVA versus NCPAP: 1.34, 95%CI: –4.17 to 6.85). Conclusion: NAVA showed similar clinical and ventilator-related outcomes compared to the usual care noninvasive respiratory support measures NCPAP or NIPP for preterm infants.

Keywords: preterm infants, noninvasive neurally adjusted ventilatory assist, NIV-NAVA, non-invasive ventilation, nasal continuous or positive airway pressure, NCPAP, intermittent positive airway pressure ventilation, NIPP, respiratory distress syndrome, RDS

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Authors: Jo, Eui Chang, Shin, Heekang, Mun, A. Young , Kim, Hong Kyu

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Regarding change on population and family structure in Korea after the 1980s, there has been a rapid change of low fertility, graying and increase of single household that cannot be found in any other parts of the world. With the result of total population residence by the National Statistical Office, Korea will hold 52,160,065 people in 2030 and reduction is predicted and from 2025 people above the age of 65 will take 20% of the total population, which means the entry of a super aging society. Also, average number in a family will be 2.71 in 2015 and decrease to 2.33 in 2035. On the other hand, proportion of single and two person household will be 53.7% in 2015 and it will increase up to 68.4% in 2035. Old population will increase greatly, single and two person household will take 2/3 of the total households. Delphi research was processed in 3 steps on 40 professionals about the importance and changing factors of residential environment of apartment followed by the change of population structure. For interior plan, space variety, variability, safety, convenient installation, eco-friendly installation, and IT installation were important factors for construction plan, plan on aged and single households, convenient installation, safety installation, eco-friendly installation for subdivision plan, education/child care facility, parks/gymnasium facility, community facility, and accessibility of transportation were predicted as important factors.

Keywords: change of population structure, super-graying, change of residential environment of apartment, single household, interior plan, construction plan, subdivision plan, Delphi research

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Authors: Wisam Ismail, Chole Wright, Elizabeth Baker, Cathy Tait, Mohamed Salhab, Richard Linforth

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Background: Post-mastectomy breast reconstruction is an important treatment option for women with breast cancer with psychosocial, emotional and quality of life benefits. Despite this, Asian patients are one-fifth as likely as Caucasian patients to undergo reconstruction after mastectomy. Aim: This study aimed to assess the difference in breast reconstruction rates between Asian and Caucasian patients treated at Bradford Teaching Hospitals between May 2011 – December 2015.The long-term goal is to equip healthcare professionals to improve breast cancer treatment outcome by increasing breast reconstruction rates in this sub-population. Methods: All patients undergoing mastectomy were identified using a prospectively collected departmental database. Further data was obtained via retrospective electronic case note review. Bradford city population is about 530.000 by the end of 2015, with 67.44% of the city's population was White ethnic groups and 26.83% Asian Ethnic Groups (UK population consensus). The majority of Asian population speaks Urdu, hence an Urdu speaking breast care nurse was appointed to facilitate communications and deliver a better understanding of the reconstruction options and pathways. Statistical analysis was undertaken using the SAS program. Patients were stratified by age, self-reported ethnicity, axillary surgery and reconstruction. Relative odds were calculated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses with adjustment for known confounders. An Urdu speaking breast care nurse was employed throughout this period to facilitate communication and patient decision making. Results: 506 patients underwent Mastectomy over 5 years. 72 (14%) Asian v. 434 (85%) Caucasian. Overall median age is 64 years (SD1.1). Asian median age is 62 (SD0.9), versus Caucasian 65 (SD1.2). Total axillary clearance rate was 30% (42% Asian v.30% Caucasian). Overall reconstruction rate was 126 patients (28.9%).Only 6 of 72 Asian patients (<1%) underwent breast reconstruction versus 121of 434 Caucasian (28%) (p < 0.04), Odds ratio 0.68, (95% confidence interval 0.57-0.79). Conclusions: There is a significant difference in post-mastectomy reconstruction rates between Asian and Caucasian patients. This difference is likely to be multi-factorial. Higher rates of axillary clearance in Asian patients might suggest later disease presentation and/or higher rates of subsequent adjuvant therapy, both of which, can impact on the suitability of breast reconstruction. Strategies aimed at reducing racial disparities in breast reconstruction should include symptom awareness to enable earlier presentation and facilitated communication to ensure informed decision-making.

Keywords: aesthetic, Asian, breast, reconstruction

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Authors: Megan Burfoot, Shanta Budha-Magar, Ali Ghaffarianhoseini, Amirhoseini Ghaffarianhoseini

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Domestic backyards offer a valuable opportunity to contribute to biodiversity conservation efforts and promote ecological sustainability by cultivating native plant species. This study focuses on assessing the presence and maintenance of native plants in New Zealand's residential gardens through an online questionnaire. The survey was designed to collect data on the presence of native, exotic, and lawn plants in New Zealand backyards, alongside the allocation of maintenance resources for each category. Targeting a diverse range of residents and property sizes from different regions of New Zealand, this study sought to gain essential insights into practices related to native plant cultivation. Results reveal there is a collective inclination to reduce lawn coverage and introduce a higher abundance of native and exotic species. A thorough analysis of maintenance practices reveals a significant portion of respondents embracing environmentally friendly gardening, characterized by low-intensity fertilizer usage. Homeowners, especially those residing in their properties, demonstrate proactive engagement in backyard maintenance. Native plants were found to require more time, money and fertilizer for maintenance than those of exotic and lawn species. The insights gained from this study can guide targeted efforts to enhance urban biodiversity, making a significant contribution to the preservation and enrichment of New Zealand's unique biodiversity and ecological heritage in urban settings.

Keywords: biodiversity, backyards, planting behaviour, backyard maintenance, native planting

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Authors: Elena Ginghina

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There are two major categories of language acquisition: first and second language acquisition, which distinguish themselves in their learning process and in their ultimate attainment. However, in the case of a bilingual child, one of the languages he grows up with receives gradually the features of a second language. This phenomenon characterizes the successive first language acquisition, when the initial state of the child is already marked by another language. Nevertheless, the dominance of the languages can change throughout the life, if the exposure to language and the quality of the input are better in 2L1. Related to the exposure to language and the quality of the input, there are cases even at the simultaneous bilingualism, where the two languages although learned from birth one, differ from one another at some point. This paper aims to see, what makes a 2L1 to become a second language and under what circumstances can a L2 learner reach a native or a near native speaker level.

Keywords: bilingualism, first language acquisition, native speakers of German, second language acquisition

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Authors: Bok Check Meng, Goh Ying Soon

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Giving additional learning materials such as Chinese fantasy novel to non-native learners can be strenuous. Instructors have to understand the underpinning theories about cognitive theory for new word instruction. This paper discusses the underpinning theories. Relevant literature reviews are given. There are basically five major areas of cognitive related theories mentioned in this article. These include motivational learning theory, Affective theory of learning, Cognitive psychology theory, Vocabulary acquisition theory and Bloom’s cognitive levels theory. A theoretical framework has been constructed. Thus, this will give a hand in ensuring non-native learners might gain positive outcomes in the instruction process. Instructors who are interested in teaching new word from Chinese fantasy novel in specific to support additional learning might be able to get insights from this article.

Keywords: Chinese fantasy novel, new word teaching, non-native learners, cognitive theory, bloom

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Authors: Farnaz Firuzian, Farhad Choobdar, Ali Mazouri

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As Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) neonates cannot tolerate enteral feeding, parenteral nutrition (PN) must be administered shortly after birth. To find an optimal combination of nutrition, in this study, we compare administering high glucose versus high protein intake as a component of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) to test their effect on birth weight (BW) regain in VLBW. This study employs a multi-arm randomized trial: 145 newborns with BW < 1500 g were randomized to control (C) or experimental groups: high glucose (G) or high protein (P). All samples in each group received the same TPN regimens except glucose and protein intake: Glocuse was provided by dextrose water (DW) serum: 7-15 g/kg/d (10% DW) in groups C and P versus 8.75-18.75 g/kg/d (12.5% DW) in group G. Protein provided by amino acids 3 g/kg/d for groups C and G versus 4 g/kg/d for group P. Outcomes (weight, height, and head circumference) was monitored on a daily basis until the BW was regained. Data has been gathered recently and is being processed. We hypothesize that neonates with higher amino acid intake will result in sooner BW regain than other groups. The result will be presented at the conference. The findings of this study not only can help optimize nutrition, cost reduction, and shorter NICU admission of VLBW neonates at the hospital level but eventually contribute to reduced healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and an improved health economy.

Keywords: very low birth weight neonates, weight gain, parenteral nutrition, glucose, amino acids

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Authors: A. J. Otjen

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Native American communities are struggling with unemployment and depressed economies. A major cause is a lack of business knowledge, education, and cultural desire. And yet, in the history of the American West, Native Americans were considered the best traders and negotiators for everything from furs to weapons to buffalo. To improve these economies, there has been an effort to reintroduce that heritage to todays and tomorrows generation of tribal members, such Crow, Cheyenne, and Blackfeet. Professors at the College of Business Montana State University-Billings (MSUB) teach tribal students in Montana to create business plans. These plans have won national small business plan competitions. The teaching and advising method used at MSUB is uniquely successful as theses business students are now five time national champions. This article reviews the environment and the method of learning to achieve a winning small business plan with Native American students. It discusses the five plans that became national champions. And it discusses the problems and solutions discovered in the process of achieving results. Students who participated in this endeavor have graduated and become CPAs, MBAs, and gainfully employed in their chosen professions. They have also worked to improve the economies of their native lands and homes. By educating members of these communities with business strategy and plan development, they are better able to impact their own economies.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, native American economies, small businesses, unemployment

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Authors: Shehu, B., Muhammad, B. F., Madigawa, I. L., H. A. Alkali

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The study was conducted to assess heifer camel behavior and live weight changes on native range supplemented with different energy levels. A total of nine camels aged between 2 and 3 years were randomly allotted into three groups and supplemented with 3400, 3600 and 3800 Kcal and designated A, B and C, respectively. The data obtained was analyzed for variance in a Completely Randomized Design. The heifers utilized average of 371.70 min/day (64% of daylight time) browsing on native pasture and 2.30 min/day (6%) sand bathing. A significantly higher mean time was spent by heifers on browsing Leptadenia hastata (P<0.001), Dichrostachys cinerea (P<0.01), Acacia nilotica (P<0.001) and Ziziphus spina-christi (P<0.05) in early dry season (January). No significant difference was recorded on browsing time on Tamarindus indica, Adansonia digitata, Piliostigma reticulatum, Parkia biglobosaand Azadirachta indica. No significant (P<0.05) liveweight change was recorded on she-camels due to the three energy levels. It was concluded that nutritive browse species in the study area could meet camel nutrient requirements including energy. Further research on effect of period on camel nutrients requirement in different physiological conditions is recommended.

Keywords: heifer, camel, grazing, pasture

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Authors: Noni Agustina, Nuryansyah Adijaya

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Writing research report plays an important role in a process of conducting research, especially a research report which is written in English. A researcher should consider many language elements; grammar, word-appropriateness, punctuation, etc in a research report. However, many researchers face some problems in research report, especially for non-native writers. This study is aimed to find out the characteristics of internationally published research journal articles based on functional grammar viewpoint especially transitivity system. Six published research journal articles which consist of English Language Teaching, linguistics, and medical fields were takes as the data. Each of field comprises native and non-native English speaking research journal articles. Qualitative content analysis was employed as the method of the study The results show that all six published research journal articles both native and non-native use material and relational process. The participants are dominated by goal, phenomenon, attribute, value, verbiage, and existent. They reflect the objectivity in research journal articles. Moreover, circumstance of place and quality occur more frequently. Transitivity system that consists of process types, participants, and circumstances have roles in describing the characteristics of research journal articles.

Keywords: transitivity system, SFL, ideational meaning, research journal article

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