Comparing approaches to feedback in the context of English language teaching in higher education

Written feedback has the potential to play an important role in supporting HE students’ learning. This paper looks at the question of how much and what kind of feedback is most effective in the context of language learning but with implications for other disciplines. It argues for the importance of contextualising feedback within a dialogue with students

Children's drama : technical and educational approaches to the development of TV and theatre drama in Oman

The purpose of this study is to explore how Omani children's drama, in schools and theatres and T.V. can be developed and enriched to become a useful educational tool for the nation's development, while also meeting children's cognitive and emotional needs. In order to do so, the origins and development of Arab and Omani theatre and T.V. are traced, the goals of the Omani development strategy and the expected roles of theatre and T.V. are discussed, and examples of good practice from the Arab world and the West are considered.The work is qualitative in nature, depending largly on writings on drama, on the researcher's extensive experience in television and theatre production and direction, and on visits to observe children's theatre in the U.K., United States, and Arab Gulf States. In addition, a small survey was carried out among Omani teachers to explore their perceptions of the role and practice of drama in schools, and a seminar was held in which various experts came together to discuss issues in Children's Drama and Theatre and to identify obstacles.As a practical experiment a play, Titi and Toti, was directed and produced by researcher to demonstrate the feasibility and value of developing theatre forchildren in Oman. It is shown that drama in Oman is in the early stages of development and is dominated by television. Children's theatre as a distinct form hardly exists at all.Obstacles include lack of resources, inadequate training, and conservative social atitueds [i.e. attitudes] which associate drama with pagan superstition, time-wasting, and alien cultural values. Nevertheless, a few successful experiments suggest that useful Western models such as Theatre in Education can be reconciled with elements of Oman's rich cultural heritage, to produce works for children that are entertaining, informative, and consistent with local values. Recommendations are made for the development of Omani children's theatre and drama in line with the nation's overall cultural strategy

The Early Identification of Children with Disabilities in Public Schools in Muscat Governorate, Sultanate of Oman

يركز هذا البحث على تقييم واقع برامج التعرف المبكر على الأطفال ذوي الإعاقة في المدارس الحكومية بمحافظة مسقط في سلطنة عمان، وتحليل مدى فعاليتها في الكشف عن حالات الإعاقة وتقديم التدخلات المناسبة. وتنبع أهمية هذا البحث من الدور المحوري الذي تؤديه هذه البرامج في تحسين جودة حياة الأطفال ذوي الإعاقة، وتعزيز فرص دمجهم الأسري والاجتماعي والتعليمي. ويُعد التعليم في سلطنة عمان من أولويات الدولة، حيث يشمل التعليم الحكومي جميع الفئات، بما في ذلك الطلاب ذوي الإعاقة، الذين خُصصت لهم برامج "صفوف الدمج" داخل المدارس الحكومية. وتمثل هذه الصفوف نموذجًا تربويًا يهدف إلى دمج الطلبة ذوي الإعاقة السمعية والعقلية أو ذوي صعوبات التعلم في البيئة التعليمية العامة مع توفير الدعم اللازم لضمان مشاركتهم الفاعلة، في إطار التزام سلطنة عمان بمبدأ تكافؤ الفرص وتحقيق الشمول التعليمي. اعتمد البحث على المنهج الوصفي التحليلي من خلال إعداد استبانة مكونة من عشرة محاور رئيسية مستخلصة من الأدبيات والمعايير الدولية، طُبّقت على عينة عشوائية طبقية مكونة من (186) من العاملين في (15) مركزًا للتدخل المبكر بمحافظة مسقط، كما تم دعم النتائج بإجراء مقابلات شبه مهيكلة، وتحليل البيانات باستخدام برنامج Smart PLS وفق أسلوب التحليل العاملي التوكيدي (CFA). كشفت النتائج عن وجود فجوات واضحة في جودة الخدمات المقدمة، أبرزها ضعف التنسيق بين الجهات المعنية، وقصور في تدريب وتأهيل الكوادر المهنية، وانخفاض وعي الأسر بأهمية التعرف المبكر. كما أظهرت النتائج الحاجة إلى تطوير السياسات المؤسسية والبنية التحتية بما يتماشى مع المعايير العالمية، مع التركيز على تفعيل دور الأسرة في جميع مراحل التقييم والتدخل. وخلص البحث إلى مجموعة من التوصيات التي تسعى إلى تحسين مستوى الخدمات، وتعزيز التكامل بين المؤسسات، وتطوير آليات تقييم أكثر فاعلية واستدامة، بما يسهم في تحقيق نقلة نوعية في مجال التعرف المبكر على الأطفال ذوي الإعاقة في سلطنة عمان. This study focuses on evaluating the current state of early identification programs for children with disabilities in public schools in Muscat Governorate, Sultanate of Oman, and analyzing their effectiveness in detecting disabilities and providing appropriate interventions. The importance of this study stems from the critical role such programs play in improving the quality of life for children with disabilities and enhancing their opportunities for familial, social, and educational inclusion. Education in Oman is a national priority, and public education covers all segments of society, including students with disabilities, for whom inclusive classroom programs have been implemented in public schools. These inclusive classrooms represent an educational model aimed at integrating students with hearing, intellectual disabilities, or learning difficulties into the general educational environment while providing the necessary support to ensure their active participation, as part of Oman’s commitment to equal opportunities and inclusive education. The study adopted a descriptiveanalytical approach by developing a questionnaire consisting of ten main axes derived from relevant literature and international standards. It was applied to a stratified random sample of 186 employees across 15 early intervention centers in Muscat Governorate. The findings were supported by semistructured interviews and data analysis conducted using Smart PLS software, employing Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The results revealed significant gaps in the quality of services provided, most notably the lack of coordination among relevant entities, deficiencies in the training and qualification of professional staff, and low parental awareness regarding the importance of early identification. The study also highlighted the need to develop institutional policies and infrastructure in line with global standards, with a particular emphasis on activating the family’s role in all stages of assessment and intervention. The research concluded with a set of recommendations aimed at improving service quality, enhancing institutional integration, and developing more effective and sustainable assessment mechanisms, contributing to a qualitative advancement in the field of early identification of children with disabilities in Oman

Development of Organoids from Malignant Ascites for Cancer Research in Oman

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A randomized controlled trial of metformin on left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with coronary artery disease without diabetes:the MET-REMODEL trial

Aim We tested the hypothesis that metformin may regress left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in patients who have coronary artery disease (CAD), with insulin resistance (IR) and/or pre-diabetes. Methods and results We randomly assigned 68 patients (mean age 65 ± 8 years) without diabetes who have CAD with IR and/or pre-diabetes to receive either metformin XL (2000 mg daily dose) or placebo for 12 months. Primary endpoint was change in left ventricular mass indexed to height1.7 (LVMI), assessed by magnetic resonance imaging. In the modified intention-to-treat analysis (n = 63), metformin treatment significantly reduced LVMI compared with placebo group (absolute mean difference −1.37 (95% confidence interval: −2.63 to −0.12, P = 0.033). Metformin also significantly reduced other secondary study endpoints such as: LVM (P = 0.032), body weight (P = 0.001), subcutaneous adipose tissue (P = 0.024), office systolic blood pressure (BP, P = 0.022) and concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, a biomarker for oxidative stress (P = 0.04). The glycated haemoglobin A1C concentration and fasting IR index did not differ between study groups at the end of the study. Conclusion Metformin treatment significantly reduced LVMI, LVM, office systolic BP, body weight, and oxidative stress. Although LVH is a good surrogate marker of cardiovascular (CV) outcome, conclusive evidence for the cardio-protective role of metformin is required from large CV outcomes trials

Managing Transformers Risk through Failure Codification

The fast development and expansion of any service organizations which followed by increases in the asset numbers that’s need to have a proper maintenance strategy which should be cost effective. The aim of any strategy is to have a plan that contribute to improve asset performance by reducing downtime of asset failures. The aim of this paper is to set plan that determine the processes of creating failure code that can create a library of failure modes with its consequences and risk. This allow service provider to quickly understand the problem and any action that can be taken which have already proven by failure mode effect analysis. Also it’s identify most of the functional failures that might happened in the critical asset in the OETC’s network. In this study the transformer asset class was taken into the consideration for full failure mood and fault tree analysis. Defining failure codes can give specific instructions to complete a task to reduce the main time to wait in any failure from the total main time to repair, and any smiler failure mode from other assets the corrective action will remain consistent. The selective processes of creating a failure code give the organization a more holistic view of transformers risk which will be used to improve maintenance strategy by integrate those codes into work order system like CMMS

A Novel Mutation (Q694X) in the ITGB3 Gene Causing Glanzmann’s Thrombasthenia from the Sultanate of Oman

Background: Glanzmann Thrombasthenia (GT) results from mutations in the genes ITGA2B and ITGB3, located on chromosome 17q21–23 which encodes the platelet glycoprotein αIIbβ3 complex, namely GPIIb (αIIb) and GPIIIa (β3), the fibrinogen receptors on platelets, which play an important role in platelet aggregation. Patients with GT can require frequent hospitalization and can be a burden on the nation’s health resources. The possibility that GT could be cured by gene replacement therapy makes it essential to study the molecular basis of the GT patients in a particular family or kindred. Objectives: Our aim was to identify the underlying mutations responsible for GT in Omani patients in order to establish a strategy for genetic counseling and carrier detection to prevent the occurrence of the homozygous state by prenatal diagnosis. Methods: GT was diagnosed in a 17 year old Omani female at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital. The diagnosis of GT was based on clinical features, platelet aggregometry and biochemical studies. Platelet surface expression of GPIIb/IIIa was also studied by flowcytometry. Molecular studies performed at Medical Genetics Department, Tsukuba University, Japan, include DNA sequencing of all exons and exon-intron junctions of ITGA2B and ITGB3 of the two genes by the ABI 3100 Genetic Analyzer®. [Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA]. Genomic DNA was also analyzed by Illumina Human-1 Bead Chip Illumina® (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA, USA) to exclude the whole region of the two genes that could produce an apparent homozygous state. Results: We have identified a novel nonsense causative mutation (Q694X) by sequencing the ITGB3 gene. [Figure 1a & b]. In addition, sequencing ITGB3 gene also revealed 2 SNPs (rs 3809863; IVS14+9C/T, rs 3809865; 3383T/A). The Micro-Array assay using Illumina Human-1 Bead chip excluded the possibility of deletion of these genes in chromosome 17 in this patient. Summary/Conclusion: A stop codon was found in exon 13 of ITGB3 gene causing the translated protein to be abnormally shortened. It is hypothesized that the altered form of ITGB3 gene is both extremely unstable and rapidly degraded after its biosynthesis, leading to a loss of function of the protein. Further RNA expression studies, transfection tests and cDNA sequencing are ongoing to elucidate the molecular mechanisms responsible for GT

Maize Tassel Detection From UAV Imagery Using Deep Learning

The timing of flowering plays a critical role in determining the productivity of agricultural crops. If the crops flower too early, the crop would mature before the end of the growing season, losing the opportunity to capture and use large amounts of light energy. If the crops flower too late, the crop may be killed by the change of seasons before it is ready to harvest. Maize flowering is one of the most important periods where even small amounts of stress can significantly alter yield. In this work, we developed and compared two methods for automatic tassel detection based on the imagery collected from an unmanned aerial vehicle, using deep learning models. The first approach was a customized framework for tassel detection based on convolutional neural network (TD-CNN). The other method was a state-of-the-art object detection technique of the faster region-based CNN (Faster R-CNN), serving as baseline detection accuracy. The evaluation criteria for tassel detection were customized to correctly reflect the needs of tassel detection in an agricultural setting. Although detecting thin tassels in the aerial imagery is challenging, our results showed promising accuracy: the TD-CNN had an F1 score of 95.9% and the Faster R-CNN had 97.9% F1 score. More CNN-based model structures can be investigated in the future for improved accuracy, speed, and generalizability on aerial-based tassel detection

Mandatory oral glucose tolerance tests identify more diabetics in stable patients with chronic heart failure: a prospective observational study

BACKGROUND: Many patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) are believed to have unrecognized diabetes, which is associated with a worse prognosis. This study aimed to describe glucose tolerance in a general stable CHF population and to identify determinants of glucose tolerance focusing on body composition and skeletal muscle strength. METHODS: A prospective observational study was set up. Inclusion criteria were diagnosis of CHF, stable condition and absence of glucose-lowering medication. Patients underwent a 2 h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), isometric strength testing of the upper leg and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Health-related quality of life and physical activity level were assessed by questionnaire. RESULTS: Data of 56 participants were analyzed. Despite near-normal fasting glucose values, 55% was classified as prediabetic, 14% as diabetic, and 20% as normal glucose tolerant. Of all newly diagnosed diabetic patients, 79% were diagnosed because of 2 h glucose values only and none because of HbA1c. Univariate mixed model analysis revealed ischaemic aetiology, daily physical activity, E/E’, fat trunk/fat limbs and extension strength as possible explanatory variables for the glucose curve during the glucose tolerance test. When combined in one model, only fat trunk/fat limbs and E/E’ remained significant predictors. Furthermore, fasting insulin was correlated with fat mass/height(2) (r = 0.51, p < 0.0001), extension strength (r = -0.33, p < 0.01) and triglycerides (r = 0.39, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirm that a large majority of CHF patients have impaired glucose tolerance. This glucose intolerance is related to fat distribution and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure