THE EFFECT OF COLLABORATION ON OMANI STUDENTS’ WRITING: A COMPARISON BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL, PAIR AND GROUP WORK

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the integration of collaborative writing in L2 classrooms. Collaboration is likely to have a positive effect on writing. However, none of the studies on collaborative writing have been conducted in an Arabic context where learners seem to be in favour of working individually. The current study investigates the effect of collaboration on L2 Omani students writing and expands the discussion to the attitudes of those learners to such collaboration. The data is collected from 41 students selected from two regional schools in Oman. Learners were firstly asked to complete a questionnaire about their attitudes towards collaborative writing. Then, they were divided into individuals, pairs and groups to work in a writing task followed by self reflections for pairs and groups. The analysis and interpretations of data found that collaborative writing positively affects accuracy, fluency and lexical resources of the texts. Moreover, learners generally perceive collaborative writing positively. It was concluded that collaborative writing tasks, groups rather than pairs, have an advantage over autonomous writing to some extent. The findings suggest that collaborative writing should be introduced gradually in writing classes and integrated in the actual writing process

An estimation of oil prices effect on household consumption in Sweden

This study uses a vector autoregressive (VAR) model to examine the impact of oil prices on household final consumption expenditure in Sweden. Due to that international oil prices have been falling since mid-2014, and due to Sweden’s assumed decreased oil dependency, it is of interest to estimate this effect, and whether it has reduced. The empirical results suggest that the price of oil does significantly affect household consumption in Sweden. It is indicated that an increase in international oil prices is associated with a decrease in household consumption. Furthermore, there are indications that the effect of oil prices on consumption was higher before the mid-1990s than in succeeding periods

Prevalence and Spectrum of Coronary Anomalies Detected on Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography: A single centre experience in Oman

ABSTRACT: Objectives: Coronary artery anomalies (CAAs) are uncommon congenital abnormalities with a prevalence ranging from 0.2–2%. CAAs can be asymptomatic or less commonly present with life-threatening symptoms. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and spectrum of CAAs in patients who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in Oman. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the National Heart Centre, Muscat, Oman between September 2012 and August 2018. All consecutive patients who had undergone CCTA were included. Results: A total of 4,445 patients were included in this study. Of these, 59 patients (1.3%) were diagnosed with CAAs with a mean age of 52.6 years (range: 12–80 years) and an equal gender distribution. Among the patients with CAAs, the majority (69.5%) had anomalous origins from the opposite or non-coronary sinus. Right coronary artery arising from the left coronary sinus was the most common type (33.9%). Fewer patients (18.6%) had left circumflex arising from the right coronary sinus (RCS). Seven patients (11.9%) had left main arising from the RCS. Other CAAs were in the dual left anterior descending artery (8.5%), high coronary artery take-off (6.8%), single coronary ostia (6.8%) and coronary artery fistula (6.8%). Conclusion: The prevalence of CAAs was 1.3% which is similar to the literature.Keywords: Coronary Vessel Anomalies; Computed Tomography Angiography; Prevalence; Oman

Hordeum distichon L. (Gramineae) in Iraq. As a Review

مقدمة: يعد النوع Hordeum distichon L. أهم محصول حبوب يُزرع في العراق ويُزرع بشكل شائع في جميع أنحاء العالم ذات المناخ المعتدل ويُعرف غالبًا باسم الشعير الشائع أو الشعير ذو الصفين وهو مستنبت من الشعير ينتمي إلى العائلة Poaceae، والعشيرة Triticeae. النتائج: لخصت المراجعة الحالية المعلومات التي تم جمعها والتي تم نشرها في مقالات علمية مختلفة حول الصفات المظهرية للنوع Hordeum Distichon والاستخدامات العرقية والطبية والكيمياء النباتية وعلم الأدوية. كما تم جمع الأدلة العلمية الداعمة للنسل النباتي وتحديد الثغرات التي يجب سدها من خلال الدراسة المستقبلية الاستنتاجات: هذه البيانات ستكون مفيدة في توفير الاتجاهات المستقبلية للاستخدام الزراعي والطبّي لنبات Hordeum distichon الذي لا يزال أكثر النباتات العشبية استخدامًا، وفقًا للتطبيقات التقليدية والفحص العلميBackground: Hordeum distichon L. is the most important cereal crop grown in Iraq and is commonly cultivated in temperate climate across the world that is often known as common barley or two-rowed barley is a cultigen of barley belonging to the Poaceae family and the Triticeae tribe. Results: The present review summarized collected information that is spread in different scientific articles about Hordeum distichon's morphology, ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacology. It was also gathered scientific evidence supporting ethnobotanical claims and identified holes that must be filled by future study Conclusion: These data will be helpful to provide future directions for the agricultural and medicinal use of Hordeum distichon plant which no need to remain the most extensively used herbal plant, according to traditional applications and scientific examination

Exploring cultural variation in the emotional expressivity of online drawings

Extensive research points to cross-cultural differences in emotional expressivity and the use of context in communication. This study explored these ideas through digital, online, drawings produced using Google\u27s Quick Draw (N = 4869). The selected pictures were of fish and had been drawn by individuals from across six nations: UK, USA, Australia (individualist), Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (collectivist). Participants from individualist societies produced images expressing emotion (e.g. smiling or frowning fish) more frequently than their collectivist counterparts. Similarly, participants from individualist nations were significantly more likely to include contextualising elements within their drawings (e.g. seaweed, bubbles etc.). The results support previous work on emotional expression across cultures and research in the area of high and low context communication. This study extends these ideas into the area of computer-based drawing, suggesting Google\u27s Quick Draw represents a useful resource for exploring emotional and cultural variation through the medium of online drawings

Pulmonary Hyalinising Granuloma: A report of two cases

ABSTRACT: Pulmonary hyalinising granuloma (PHG) is a rare fibrosclerosing inflammatory lung condition of unknown aetiology. It is characterised by solitary or multiple pulmonary nodules that are usually found incidentally while imaging the chest for other reasons. We report two cases of histologically proven PHG diagnosed at the Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman. The first case was a 71-year-old male patient who presented in 2010 with a dry cough, weight loss and bilateral pulmonary nodules. The second case was a 58-year-old male patient who presented in 2012 and was found to have incidental bilateral pulmonary nodules on chest X-ray. Both patients were started on prednisolone and on follow-up the PHG nodules remained stable. Although there is no definitive treatment, PHG generally has an excellent prognosis.Keywords: Granuloma; X-Ray Computed Tomography; Multiple Pulmonary Nodules; Lung; Case Report; Oman

Diffusion of inorganic contaminants in dense clay

Develops a mathematical model for depicting behavior of molecular diffusion coefficients -- the factors which cause wastes to migrate through landfill clays into the surrounding soils

A New Empirical Model for Calculating Solubility of Cholesterol in Supercritical Dioxide Carbon

In this research, a new empirical model for calculating solubility of cholesterol in supercritical dioxide carbon has been proposed. The new empirical model included a new parameter is time of staying meat under supercritical CO2, as well as the traditional parameters as pressure and temperature. Multiple linear regression is used to obtain the new empirical model with coefficient correlation of 0.963 and 0.973 for both of static and dynamic methods respectively, as well as the standard error reached 0.014 and 0.00915 respectively, also all parameters have a significant effect of on the cholesterol solubility in the for static and dynamic methods. The results also showed that the cholesterol diffusion coefficient in supercritical CO2 was significantly increased with increasing temperature and reduced with increasing pressure. Values of mass transfer coefficient ranged between 1.3468×10-5 – 3.7756×10-5 m-2s-1 and 6.9177×10-6 - 3.6480×10-5 m-2s-1 for static and dynamic methods respectively. Keywords: supercritical CO2, cholesterol, solubility, mea

Synthesis and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of benzidines and some derivatives

Benzidine, 2,2'-disubstituted and 2,6,2',6'- tetra substituted benzidines are usually prepared through the rearrangement of their corresponding hydrazobenzenes in acid medium. However, hydrazobenzenes which would lead to benzidines heavily substituted in the 2,6,2',6' positions were found to be difficult to rearrange or to give low yields when rearranged in concentrated acids. Best yields were obtained when sulfuric acid (2:1 by weight) at 85--90&deg;C was used. Column chromatography was found to be the most satisfactory method of separating the rearrangement products (benzidine, diphenyline and semidine). 1H N.m.r. spectra of the benzidines prepared throughout this work were done and the chemical shifts of the amino protons and of the ring protons in CDCl3, in CDCl3 with few drops of TFA and in neat were determined and discussed. Many attempts were made to achieve optical resolution of 2,2'-di-t-butylbenzidine through the (+)-hydrogen tartrate, (+)-camphor-10-sulfonate salts, and the (-)-menthoxyacetyl derivative but without success. On the other hand, the optical activation of 2 ,2'-dibromo-6,6f-diethoxybenzidine gave only the (-) base through the (+)-camphor-10-sulfonate salt. Temperature variable high resolution n.m.r. (220MHz) spectroscopy was employed to study the inversion process of the two enantiomeric forms by means of magnetic behaviour of the diastereotopic protons of the ethoxy group of 2,2'-dibromo-6,6'-diethoxybenzidine. Schiff's bases derived from different benzidines and benzaldehydes were prepared and the substituent effect in both components on the rate of the reaction was studied. Moreover, 1H n.m.r. spectra of these bases was extensively studied and the chemical shifts of the azomethine proton3and of the ring protons of the aldehyde and of the benzidine components were determined and discussed. The de shielding effect of the azomethine group CH=N on the chemical shifts of the benzylidene ring protons of these bases was determined for the first time.<p

The role of serial physical examinations in the management of angioedema involving the head and neck: A prospective observational study

AbstractObjectiveTo elucidate the progression of angioedema of the head and neck with routine management and to assess the utility of serial physical exams and fiberoptic laryngoscopy in its management.MethodsThis study was a prospective observational research. From 2013 to 2014, a prospective observational study was conducted at a tertiary referral center. Forty patient were approached, 7 refused, 33 (18–90 years old) were enrolled. Patients presented with angioedema involving the head and neck over a 12 month period were asked to participate in the study. Physical examination and fiberoptic laryngoscopy were performed at presentation and then repeated at least 1 h later.ResultsThirty-three patients with head and neck angioedema from any cause were enrolled (mean age 58, range 23–89 years). The upper lip was the most commonly involved site (58%). On reevaluation, 82% of patients reported subjective improvement in symptoms. The association between subjective improvement and the physical exam, including fiberoptic laryngoscopy findings, was statistically significant (P < 0.001).ConclusionIn stable patients with angioedema of any head and neck subsite, self-reported symptoms are associated with clinical stability or improvement as assessed by physical signs and fiberoptic laryngoscopy. Patients' symptoms may be an appropriate surrogate to monitor clinical status without the need for routine serial physical examinations or fiberoptic laryngoscopy, though further study is needed