Palestinian University Writing Professors' Feedback Practices and their Students' Reactions towards them

The purpose of the current study is to identify feedback practices Palestinian university professors frequently use and the extent to which they are aware of the soundness or unsoundness of these practices. The study also investigates Palestinian university students' reactions towards their teachers' feedback practices. For this purpose the researchers prepared two questionnaires to gather the data; the first addresses teachers' use of feedback practices and their soundness or unsoundness and the other is assigned to collect information from students on the frequency of their teachers use of feedback practices and if they like or dislike them. Two different samples, i.e. 26 university professors and 310 English majoring students from different universities in Palestine are included. The results of the study showed that Palestinian university writing professors are aware of the educational soundness and unsoundness of the majority of feedback practices and use sound ones quite often. Their students mostly agreed with their teachers' responses; however some discrepancies occurred between teachers' responses and their students' reactions towards certain practices. Moreover, students indicated their liking of most of their teachers' practices, particularly the sound ones. Surprisingly, students sometimes showed their liking of certain unsound practices. Regarding students gender role in the students' preference or approval of teachers' feedback practices, a number of differences existed, particularly in nine items; five items were in favor of males and the other four items were in favor of female students

The value of structured data elements from electronic health records for identifying subjects for primary care clinical trials

Abstract Background: An increasing number of clinical trials are conducted in primary care settings. Making better use of existing data in the electronic health records to identify eligible subjects can improve efficiency of such studies. Our study aims to quantify the proportion of eligibility criteria that can be addressed with data in electronic health records and to compare the content of eligibility criteria in primary care with previous work. Methods: Eligibility criteria were extracted from primary care studies downloaded from the UK Clinical Research Network Study Portfolio. Criteria were broken into elemental statements. Two expert independent raters classified each statement based on whether or not structured data items in the electronic health record can be used to determine if the statement was true for a specific patient. Disagreements in classification were discussed until 100 % agreement was reached. Statements were also classified based on content and the percentages of each category were compared to two similar studies reported in the literature. Results: Eligibility criteria were retrieved from 228 studies and decomposed into 2619 criteria elemental statements. 74 % of the criteria elemental statements were considered likely associated with structured data in an electronic health record. 79 % of the studies had at least 60 % of their criteria statements addressable with structured data likely to be present in an electronic health record. Based on clinical content, most frequent categories were: "disease, symptom, and sign", "therapy or surgery", and "medication" (36 %, 13 %, and 10 % of total criteria statements respectively). We also identified new criteria categories related to provider and caregiver attributes (2.6 % and 1 % of total criteria statements respectively). Conclusions: Electronic health records readily contain much of the data needed to assess patients' eligibility for clinical trials enrollment. Eligibility criteria content categories identified by our study can be incorporated as data elements in electronic health records to facilitate their integration with clinical trial management systems

Development, validation, and proof-of-concept implementation of a two-year risk prediction model for undiagnosed atrial fibrillation using common electronic health data (UNAFIED)

Background: Many patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) remain undiagnosed despite availability of interventions to reduce stroke risk. Predictive models to date are limited by data requirements and theoretical usage. We aimed to develop a model for predicting the 2-year probability of AF diagnosis and implement it as proof-of-concept (POC) in a production electronic health record (EHR). Methods: We used a nested case-control design using data from the Indiana Network for Patient Care. The development cohort came from 2016 to 2017 (outcome period) and 2014 to 2015 (baseline). A separate validation cohort used outcome and baseline periods shifted 2 years before respective development cohort times. Machine learning approaches were used to build predictive model. Patients ≥ 18 years, later restricted to age ≥ 40 years, with at least two encounters and no AF during baseline, were included. In the 6-week EHR prospective pilot, the model was silently implemented in the production system at a large safety-net urban hospital. Three new and two previous logistic regression models were evaluated using receiver-operating characteristics. Number, characteristics, and CHA2DS2-VASc scores of patients identified by the model in the pilot are presented. Results: After restricting age to ≥ 40 years, 31,474 AF cases (mean age, 71.5 years; female 49%) and 22,078 controls (mean age, 59.5 years; female 61%) comprised the development cohort. A 10-variable model using age, acute heart disease, albumin, body mass index, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, gender, heart failure, insurance, kidney disease, and shock yielded the best performance (C-statistic, 0.80 [95% CI 0.79-0.80]). The model performed well in the validation cohort (C-statistic, 0.81 [95% CI 0.8-0.81]). In the EHR pilot, 7916/22,272 (35.5%; mean age, 66 years; female 50%) were identified as higher risk for AF; 5582 (70%) had CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥ 2. Conclusions: Using variables commonly available in the EHR, we created a predictive model to identify 2-year risk of developing AF in those previously without diagnosed AF. Successful POC implementation of the model in an EHR provided a practical strategy to identify patients who may benefit from interventions to reduce their stroke risk

The mechanism of action of Spirulina as antidiabetic: a narrative review

Spirulina happens to be a special type of blue-green algae that originally emerged 3.5 billion years ago and was used as a source of nutrition. Spirulina gets its name from the filaments’ spiral or helical structure, but its true name is taxonomically Genus Arthrospira which encompasses several species. The most common species are S. fusiformis, S. maxima, and S. platensis. It is rich in various nutrients and chemical components including protein, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, minerals, pigments, chlorophyll, and enzymes. Spirulina’s active molecules and rich nutrients make it have several pharmacological activities and uses including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, immune system booster, anticancer, antiviral activity, and neuroprotective properties. It is also utilized as a nutritional supplement and for weight loss. Moreover, several studies confirm that Spirulina improves insulin sensitivity and reduces blood glucose levels in rat models as well as diabetic patients. The reason behind this unique behavior could be credited to the presence of several active components in it, but the action’s fundamental mechanism is still a matter of debate. Several studies have suggested different mechanisms including anti-inflammatory activity, increased insulin sensitivity, inhibition of gluconeogenesis, antioxidant activity, modulating gut microbiota composition, improved glucose homeostasis, and insulin receptor activation. Therefore, it became clear that Spirulina is a mine of active substances used as a nutritional supplement and reduces blood glucose levels or used in conjunction with other treatments to tackle type 2 diabetes. Further exploration is required to fully explain its effects on human physiology and determine optimal dosages for treatment

فعالية استراتيجية على الفهم القرائي : المفردات و استبقائها لدى طلبة الحادي عشر في فلسطين و اتجاهاتهم نحو اللغة الانجليزية

This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of KWL strategy on Palestinian eleventh graders' reading comprehension, vocabulary and its retention and students' attitudes towards English. To achieve the study aims, the researcher adopted the experimental approach on a sample of (64) male students from the scientific stream at Al Manfalouti Secondary School for Boys, who were randomly selected from the original population of (968) students enrolled in the scientific stream in the Directorate of Education - middle governorate for the academic year 2013-2014. The participants were divided into two equivalent groups. The researcher used 5 instruments to achieve the study aims: 1) a checklist for teachers to determine the five most important reading comprehension skills, 2) a pre and post reading comprehension test, 3) a pre and post vocabulary test, 4) a delayed vocabulary retention test, and 5) a pre and post attitude scale towards English language. The researcher used the KWL strategy in teaching the experimental group, while the traditional method was used in teaching the control one in the second term of the scholastic year 2013-2014. The experiment lasted for six weeks (2 lessons per week) in which the researcher implemented the study tools to investigate the effect of the KWL strategy. The study results revealed that the KWL strategy was effective in developing reading comprehension, vocabulary and its retention and in enhancing the attitudes of students towards English language. The findings indicated that there were significant differences in the mean scores of the experimental group and that of the control group in the post reading comprehension test in favor of the experimental group, which was attributed to the effectiveness of KWL strategy. The findings also pointed out that there were statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the experimental group and that of the control group in the post vocabulary test in favor of the experimental group, which was ascribed to the effectiveness of KWL strategy. Furthermore, the findings indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental group in the post vocabulary test and that of the delayed vocabulary retention test, which proves that the KWL strategy was effective in helping students retain vocabulary for a long time. Additionally, the study results revealed that there were statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the experimental group and that of the control group in the post application of the attitude scale towards English in favor of the experimental group which was attributed to the effectiveness of KWL strategy. The study findings also pointed out that there were statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental group subjects in the pretest and that of the post reading comprehension test in favor of the posttest, which was ascribed to the effectiveness of KWL strategy. The study results also indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental group subjects in the pretest and that of the post vocabulary test in favor of the posttest, which was attributed to the effectiveness of KWL strategy. Besides, the study findings pointed out that there were statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental group subjects in the pre application and that of the post application of the attitude scale towards English in favor of the post application and this was attributed to the effectiveness of KWL strategy. Based upon the previous findings, the study recommended that curriculum designers and decision makers should consider strategies such as KWL strategy to activate students' prior knowledge while building the curriculum activities. The study also recommended Palestinian English supervisors hold training courses to motivate the use of innovative strategies like KWL strategy to develop teacher's abilities in teaching English

Energy-and Latency-aware hybrid offloading algorithm for UAVs

One of the most promising use cases of 5G/IMT2020 is the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Due to their small size, the UAVs are resource constraint devices. To this end, this paper proposes an offloading algorithm for UAVs to assist in the execution of computationally intensive tasks. The proposed algorithm provides two UAV offloading methods. The first offloading method is the air-offloading, where a UAV can offload its computing tasks to nearby UAVs that have available computing and energy resources. The second offloading method is the ground-offloading, which enables the offloading of tasks to an edge cloud server from the multi-level edge cloud units connected to ground stations. The proposed algorithm is energy- and latency-aware, i.e., it selects the execution device and the offloading method based on the latency and energy constraints. The intensive algorithm simulation over reliable conditions for various scenarios with different cases for each scenario is conducted and results are presented

Associations of Community and Individual Social Determinants of Health With Medication Adherence in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background Despite guideline‐recommended use of oral anticoagulation (OAC) for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF), OAC medication adherence among patients with AF in the United States ranges from 47% to 82%. To characterize potential causes of nonadherence, we analyzed associations between community and individual social risk factors and OAC adherence for stroke prevention in AF. Methods and Results A retrospective cohort analysis of patients with AF was conducted using the IQVIA PharMetrics Plus claims data from January 2016 to June 2020, and 3‐digit ZIP code‐level social risk scores were calculated using American Community Survey and commercial data. Logistic regression models evaluated associations between community social determinants of health, community social risk scores for 5 domains (economic climate, food landscape, housing environment, transportation network, and health literacy), patient characteristics and comorbidities, and 2 adherence outcomes: persistence on OAC for 180 days and proportion of days covered ≥0.80 at 360 days. Of 28 779 patients with AF included in the study, 70.8% of patients were male, 94.6% were commercially insured, and the average patient age was 59.2 years. Multivariable regression found that greater health literacy risk was negatively associated with 180‐day persistence (odds ratio [OR]=0.80 [95% CI, 0.76–0.83]) and 360‐day proportion of days covered (OR, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.76–0.87]). Patient age and higher AF stroke risk score and AF bleeding risk scores were positively associated with both 180‐day persistence and 360‐day proportion of days covered. Conclusions Social risk domains, such as health literacy, may affect OAC adherence among patients with AF. Future studies should explore associations between social risk factors and nonadherence with greater geographic granularity

Virulence surveillance of wheat black stem rust fungus

General survey for wheat rust diseases in Iraqi fields was done during the seasons of 2010, 2011 and 2012. The survey covered different fields in southern, middle and northern regions. Results of the first season indicated that most of Iraqi cultivars such as Tmmoze2, IPA 99 and Mexipak showed different types of susceptibility to both yellow and leaf rust infection. Disease severity increased when the conditions were favorable for infections with using susceptible cultivars. The severity of leaf rust was less in the north region comparing with the middle and south regions. Most of the introduced cultivars such as Sham6 and Cimmyto showed susceptible reaction to yellow and leaf rust. Yellow rust was in epiphytotic form at the Iraqi-Syrian-Turkish triangle where the disease severity was 100%. Low disease severity of stem rust was observed on some cultivars (1-5%), except for the cultivar Mexipak which showed 40%S in Najaf. Rusts at season of 2011 were restricted mostly in Baghdad and the yellow rust was dominant. The AUDPC of 15 wheat cultivars showed that Sawa and Sali were highly susceptible to the three types of rusts while Babil113 and Tamoze2 were resistant. No rusts were detected at season 2012