Determinants of decision making process for Iraqi students studying in Malaysian Research Universities

Internationalization of education has become a big phenomenon in recent decades especially with the entry of many Asian countries like Malaysia, that have surpassed many developed countries such as United States, England, Europe etc. Lot of studies has been conducted on .student’s choice to study abroad in developed countries, but very few have been done in the context of developing countries like Malaysia. Malaysia being a developing country has started attracting a lot of international students mainly because of quality of education as well as low tuition and living costs. The studies regarding international students in Malaysian context have focused on the undergraduate level and not on the perspectives of adult learners. The present study is an attempt to investigate the factors that help the international students especially Iraqi students in making decisions to pursue their tertiary education at post graduate level in Malaysian university specifically in Malaysian research universities. The study utilizes case study approach with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) as a study context. The theoretical underpinning of the study relies on the theory of adult learning and selfdetermination theory for model building. The sample consisted of postgraduate Iraqi students pursuing their masters or PhD in various faculties of UTM. Secondly, focus group discussion was also carried out with international post graduate students of various nationalities for triangulation of results. Semi structured interviews were conducted from the respondents chosen using theoretical sampling technique. The results indicate that the decision making process of Iraqi students is influenced more by external factors as compared to internal factors. The study provides useful insights into the phenomenon of study abroad. The findings of the study have several implications for both higher education institutions and policy makers

Developing Strategic Competence through Task-Based Language Teaching: A Comparison of Implicit and Explicit Instruction

Speakers, native and non-native alike, frequently encounter difficulties expressing their intended meaning or attaining a desired communicative goal. To overcome such communication difficulties and achieve the desired communicative goal, speakers employ a variety of Communication Strategies (CSs). For example, circumlocution, clarification requests, gestures, conversation gambits and hesitation devices. Learners who successfully achieve their communication goals through the use of CSs are said to be strategically competent. Research has established that CSs can be effectively taught through explicit instruction. However, the impact of implicit instruction on the development of CSs has not been investigated to date. It is believed that implicit instruction may outperform explicit instruction in enabling learners to acquire the procedural knowledge which is the final step on the learning continuum. The acquired implicit knowledge can be accessed in time pressure situations, stored in mind, retained for longer periods and used more automatically. This study set out to assess the differential impact of explicit and implicit instruction on the use of CSs among pre-intermediate Arabic learners of English as a second language. The total number of learners was fifty-two learners enrolled in two English language centres in the United Kingdom. The learners in each centre were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: implicit instruction (n=18), explicit instruction (n=18), and no instruction (n=16). Both implicit and explicit conditions received strategy instruction in a TBLT format. In the implicit condition, learners were exposed to video examples of two speakers doing similar tasks but no instruction focusing on CSs was provided. In explicit instruction, learners were exposed to the same video examples and instruction focusing on CSs was provided. The third condition served as a control group which was only exposed to pre- and post-tests. Development of CSs was measured through observation of task completion, followed by stimulated recall interviews and completion of a self-report questionnaire. The results suggest that both explicit and implicit strategy instruction has a positive impact on developing participants’ use of CSs and on supporting task completion. The results showed that explicit instruction was beneficial for developing meaning-negotiation, positive self-solving, non-verbal and time-gaining CSs, whereas implicit instruction showed to be effective for developing positive self-solving and time-gaining CSs. Further, learners who received implicit instruction made greater gains in the use of meaning-negotiation strategies from pre-test to delayed post-test than learners who received explicit instruction

Pre-harvest Glyphosate Effects on Properties of Beta-glucan from Oat Groats

Pre-harvest glyphosate is applied to cereal grains to remove weeds. However, it has been claimed that oat compositions are affected by pre-harvest glyphosate. Research was conducted to evaluate differences in properties of β-glucan in the treated versus untreated oat groats. Two oat cultivars (Rockford and Souris) were grown at Minot and Prosper, North Dakota in 2015, and glyphosate was sprayed during the soft dough stage, physiological maturity stage, or not applied. β-Glucan viscosity was not significantly (p>0.05) affected by treatment at soft dough or physiological maturity stages. Use of glyphosate at the soft dough stage significantly (p<0.05) reduced the percentages of β-glucan content and solubility versus untreated samples. Treatment at soft dough and physiological maturity stages significantly (p<0.05) increased β-glucan molecular weights compared to untreated controls. Therefore, glyphosate can be applied at the physiologically mature stage of grain development because β-glucan properties from the groats were not negatively affected

Reasons for Permanent Teeth Extractions and Related Factors among Adult Patients in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

Objective. To evaluate the reasons for permanent teeth extractions and related factors among adult patients visiting dental clinics in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods. This retrospective cross-sectional study included data of patients who underwent teeth extractions. Data were collected from public and private dental clinics in different cities of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia (January–March 2020). The demographic information of patients and their reasons for teeth extractions were obtained from participating dentists. Results. The study included data of 696 patients with 55.9% of males and 44.1% of females. The mean number of teeth extractions in the sample was 1.86 ± 1.8, and it increased significantly with advancing age (P≤0.001). Saudi (1.97 ± 1.98) versus non-Saudi patients (1.55 ± 1.11) (P=0.02) and patients in public practice (2.03 ± 1.95) versus patients in private practice (1.50 ± 1.38) (P≤0.001) showed significantly higher teeth extractions. Dental caries was the most common reason for teeth extractions (49.1%), followed by remaining roots (18.5%), periodontal disease (18.4%), and impactions (7.2%). Most commonly extracted teeth included tooth # 30 (9.8%), followed by tooth #16 (9.6%), tooth # 1 (8.8%), tooth # 19 (8.3%), and tooth # 4 (8.3%). On the other hand, upper incisors were the least commonly extracted teeth. Conclusions. Dental caries, remaining roots, periodontal disease, and impactions were the most common reasons for teeth extractions in our sample of patients. The extractions increased significantly with increasing age. Saudis and patients in public clinics underwent significantly higher teeth extractions. Measures aimed at the prevention and treatment of oral conditions can help reduce teeth extractions and improve the quality of life of patients

Early determinants of mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

Purpose: This study investigated the clinical determinants of mortality in hospitalized patients infected with COVID-19. Patients and Methods: A retrospective multicenter large cohort of COVID-19 patients hospitalized between March 2020 and February 2021. We included patients admitted with a confirmed COVID-19 infection with positive COVID-19 through real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). SPSS version 25.0 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.) was used to analyze the data. Results: Among the study participants (n = 1444), the mean age of the population was 49.22±17.69 years, of which 63.9% were males (n = 924). Overall, the mean age for non-survivors was 55.65 ±16.41 years and the length of ICU stay was 13.95 ±12.4 years. The most common comorbidity among the study subjects was hypertension (HTN) (32.7%), followed by cardiovascular disease (CVD) (10.7%). Patients who were mechanically ventilated (MV) had higher mortality than those who did not require MV (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our study concluded that old age, the presence of underlying cardiovascular conditions, an abnormal WBC count (leukopenia or leukocytosis), and abnormal blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels are among the independent predictors of mortality in the Saudi population. These findings may guide health care providers to manage COVID-19 patients more effectively with better outcomes

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination modelling for safe surgery to save lives: data from an international prospective cohort study

Background: Preoperative SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could support safer elective surgery. Vaccine numbers are limited so this study aimed to inform their prioritization by modelling. Methods: The primary outcome was the number needed to vaccinate (NNV) to prevent one COVID-19-related death in 1 year. NNVs were based on postoperative SARS-CoV-2 rates and mortality in an international cohort study (surgical patients), and community SARS-CoV-2 incidence and case fatality data (general population). NNV estimates were stratified by age (18-49, 50-69, 70 or more years) and type of surgery. Best- and worst-case scenarios were used to describe uncertainty. Results: NNVs were more favourable in surgical patients than the general population. The most favourable NNVs were in patients aged 70 years or more needing cancer surgery (351; best case 196, worst case 816) or non-cancer surgery (733; best case 407, worst case 1664). Both exceeded the NNV in the general population (1840; best case 1196, worst case 3066). NNVs for surgical patients remained favourable at a range of SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates in sensitivity analysis modelling. Globally, prioritizing preoperative vaccination of patients needing elective surgery ahead of the general population could prevent an additional 58 687 (best case 115 007, worst case 20 177) COVID-19-related deaths in 1 year. Conclusion: As global roll out of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination proceeds, patients needing elective surgery should be prioritized ahead of the general population