The Use of Journal Writing and Reading Comprehension Texts During Pre-Writing in Developing EFL Students’ Academic Writing

This study aimed at investigating the effects of journal writing and reading comprehension practice during pre-writing on the development of the writing of college students enrolled in English as a foreign language (EFL) programme. A factorial design was manipulated, where subjects (n = 42) were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Existing scores on the students’ first semester writing achievement test were used to determine the writing proficiency levels of the subjects. Data were collected through administering two writing tests, an one-hour test and a 15-minutes free writing test. The results of these tests were analyzed using t-test to assess the relationship between writing fluency, complexity and accuracy. Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) and two multivariate analyses of variances (MANOVA) were further run in order to address the questions raised in the study. Findings of the study showed that there was no significant difference between journal writing and reading comprehension practice in improving the writing fluency, complexity and accuracy of the students. The MANOVA test run to test the interaction between the treatment (journal writing and reading comprehension texts) and the writing proficiency levels (low vs. high) on the writing fluency, complexity and accuracy showed no significant results. Recommendations for future research were provided at the end of the study

Assessing the Reliability of Miller’s Classification and Cairo’s Classification in Classifying Gingival Recession Defects: A Comparison Study

Background and Objectives: Gingival recession results in adverse aesthetics and root sensitivity, and there is a need to treat and prevent its further progression. To overcome these problems, various advances have been made by clinicians in treating gingival recession based on the type of gingival recession. Miller’s classification has been used for a long time to classify the type of recession. However, certain limitations have been found with use of Miller’s classification such as a lack of clarity in the method for measuring soft and hard tissue loss in the interproximal area. Cairo classification was proposed to overcome limitations of Miller’s classification to classify gingival recession. Cairo’s classification is a treatment-oriented classification based on buccal and interproximal attachment loss. Therefore, the study was conducted to assess and compare the reliability of Miller’s and Cairo’s classifications in determining gingival recession. Material and methods: A total of 220 buccal gingival recession defects were included in the study based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Four examiners were included in the study. Two examiners classified the recession defects according to Miller’s classification and the other two examiners classified recession defects according to Cairo’s classification at baseline and at a 1-week interval. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software version 25.0 using Cohen’s kappa correlation coefficient and Chi-square test statistics to determine the intra- and inter-rater agreement among the examiners for the two gingival recession classification systems. A p value of Results: The intra-rater agreement for Cairo’s classification was 0.86 and 0.82, whereas for Miller’s classification, it was found to be 0.68. The inter-rater reliability agreement for Cairo’s classification was 0.82 and 0.8, whereas for the Miller’s classification, it was 0.56 and 0.67. Conclusions: Within the limitations of the study, it was found that Cairo’s classification is clearer and more reliable than Miller’s classification in the assessment of gingival recession

Spatio-Temporal Modelling Informing Wolbachia Replacement Releases in a Low Rainfall Climate

Releases of Aedes aegypti carrying Wolbachia bacteria are known to suppress arbovirus transmission and reduce the incidence of vector-borne diseases. In planning for Wolbachia releases in the arid environment of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, we collected entomological data with ovitraps across a 7-month period in four locations. Herein, we show that mosquito presence in basements does not differ from that of non-basement areas of buildings. In modelling mosquito presence across the study sites, we found the spatial structure to be statistically significant in one of the four sites, while a significant spatial structure was found for egg production data across three of the four sites. The length scales of the spatial covariance functions fitted to the egg production data ranged from 143 m to 574 m, indicating that high productivity regions can be extensive in size. Rank-correlation analyses indicated that mosquito presence tended to persist from the dry to wet season, but that egg production ranks at locations could reverse. The data suggest that, in Jeddah, the quality of the local environment for breeding can vary over time. The data support the feasibility of dry season releases but with release numbers needing to be flexible depending on local rates of invasion

Developing Wolbachia-based disease interventions for an extreme environment.

Funder: CSIRO; Grant(s): WBS: R-91040-11Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carrying self-spreading, virus-blocking Wolbachia bacteria are being deployed to suppress dengue transmission. However, there are challenges in applying this technology in extreme environments. We introduced two Wolbachia strains into Ae. aegypti from Saudi Arabia for a release program in the hot coastal city of Jeddah. Wolbachia reduced infection and dissemination of dengue virus (DENV2) in Saudi Arabian mosquitoes and showed complete maternal transmission and cytoplasmic incompatibility. Wolbachia reduced egg hatch under a range of environmental conditions, with the Wolbachia strains showing differential thermal stability. Wolbachia effects were similar across mosquito genetic backgrounds but we found evidence of local adaptation, with Saudi Arabian mosquitoes having lower egg viability but higher adult desiccation tolerance than Australian mosquitoes. Genetic background effects will influence Wolbachia invasion dynamics, reinforcing the need to use local genotypes for mosquito release programs, particularly in extreme environments like Jeddah. Our comprehensive characterization of Wolbachia strains provides a foundation for Wolbachia-based disease interventions in harsh climates

Developing Wolbachia-based disease interventions for an extreme environment.

Acknowledgements: We thank the municipality of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for supporting this research study and facilitating fieldwork and sampling operations which allowed us to have access and build wild mosquito colonies. We thank Nancy Endersby-Harshman for facilitating the import of mosquito populations into the quarantine insectary. We thank Meng-Jia Lau for advice on primers and Véronique Paris for assistance with colony maintenance. We thank Kim R Blasdell for providing lab assistance at ACDP. The authors acknowledge the capabilities of the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in undertaking this research, including infrastructure funded by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.Funder: CSIRO; Grant(s): WBS: R-91040-11Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carrying self-spreading, virus-blocking Wolbachia bacteria are being deployed to suppress dengue transmission. However, there are challenges in applying this technology in extreme environments. We introduced two Wolbachia strains into Ae. aegypti from Saudi Arabia for a release program in the hot coastal city of Jeddah. Wolbachia reduced infection and dissemination of dengue virus (DENV2) in Saudi Arabian mosquitoes and showed complete maternal transmission and cytoplasmic incompatibility. Wolbachia reduced egg hatch under a range of environmental conditions, with the Wolbachia strains showing differential thermal stability. Wolbachia effects were similar across mosquito genetic backgrounds but we found evidence of local adaptation, with Saudi Arabian mosquitoes having lower egg viability but higher adult desiccation tolerance than Australian mosquitoes. Genetic background effects will influence Wolbachia invasion dynamics, reinforcing the need to use local genotypes for mosquito release programs, particularly in extreme environments like Jeddah. Our comprehensive characterization of Wolbachia strains provides a foundation for Wolbachia-based disease interventions in harsh climates

Cytoplasmic incompatibility induction by <i>w</i>AlbB-infected and <i>w</i>MelM-infected males in <i>Aedes aegypti</i> from a Saudi Arabian background.

Median egg hatch proportions and confidence intervals (lower 95%, upper 95%) are shown.</p

Changes in <i>Wolbachia</i> density with age in adult (A) <i>w</i>AlbB S and (B) wMelM S <i>Ae</i>. <i>aegypti</i> females.

Wolbachia density was measured every 7 days by quantitative PCR. Each point shows the relative amount of Wolbachia genomic DNA relative to mosquito genomic DNA in a single mosquito across two independent technical replicates. Horizontal lines and error bars represent medians and 95% confidence intervals. (EPS)</p

Effects of temperature, humidity and <i>w</i>AlbB infection on egg hatch following storage in <i>Ae</i>. <i>aegypti</i> with a Saudi Arabian background.

(A) Egg hatch proportions of wAlbB S and Uninfected S eggs stored for 21 days at four different temperature cycles (12h: 12h) at 80% relative humidity (RH). wAlbB infection reduced egg hatch across all temperature cycles (GLM: Wolbachia main effect: F1,152 = 32.887, P wAlbB infection and temperature cycle (F3,152 = 0.197, P = 0.313). (B) Egg hatch proportions of wAlbB S and Uninfected S eggs stored for 21 days at 80% or 30% RH and two different temperature cycles. In both experiments, control eggs were stored for 4–5 days at 26°C, 80% RH. All panels show combined data from two independent replicates of each experiment. Each symbol represents a replicate egg hatch measurement, while horizontal lines and error bars represent medians and 95% confidence intervals. (EPS)</p

Survival of <i>w</i>AlbB-infected and uninfected <i>Aedes aegypti</i> adults from Australian and Saudi Arabian backgrounds under low (A-B) and high (C-D) relative humidity.

Data are presented separately for females (A, C) and males (B, D). Lines show data from 48 (A-B) or 64 (C-D) adults per population. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.</p

Larval development and size of <i>Wolbachia</i>-infected and uninfected <i>Aedes aegypti</i> from Australian and Saudi Arabian backgrounds.

Medians and confidence intervals (lower 95%, upper 95%) are shown for each trait.</p