Integrating ICT in English language teaching: Teachers’ and students’ perspectives

Integrating ICT in language teaching refers to adding in an appropriate use of a wide range of recent technologies for communication and enriching learners’ experience (Sharma & Barrett, 2007). As teachers’ experience and views greatly influence the lessons they are conducting, this study aims to find out teachers’ perspectives on integrating ICT in an ESL class. A comparison is also made to the students’ experience and views to find out if there are any mismatches between teachers and students. Questionnaires were administered to 14 English teachers from different schools and 51 students from Kuala Lumpur. The findings show that teachers and students in this study are sufficiently familiar with the ICT items though less so with the fairly new ones. The female teachers of older age group are found to be the least familiar and competent in using ICT. Generally, both teachers and students have positive views on the integration of ICT in an ESL class though some teachers are worried of the negative effects caused by ICT. In conclusion, the sufficient experience and positive views of teachers and students can help to create effective lessons integrating ICT though more support is still needed at the current stage

Genetic diversity of Neolamarckia cadamba using dominant DNA markers based on inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSRs) in Sarawak

Neolamarckia cadamba or commonly known as kelampayan has been selected as one of the important plantation tree species in Malaysia. Thus, the molecular characterization of this indigenous tropical tree species is needed to maintain its high quality. Inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers were used in this study to determine the genetic diversity and relatedness of N. cadamba in two planted forests and six natural forests in Sarawak. Three ISSR primers had generated atotal of 239 loci, of which 32.6% - 59.4% of the loci were polymorphic among236N. cadamba treesin eight populations. The mean Shannon’s diversity index (I)ranged from 0.1399 to 0.2354. The coefficient of population differentiation was low for planted forests (Gst = 0.0871) and natural forests (Gst = 0.2013`). Both UPGMA dendrogram and NJ-tree generated by ISSR markers had divided natural forests and planted forests into two distinct clusters. Natural forests were grouped in one cluster while planted forests were grouped in another cluster. This study shows that N. cadamba trees are closely related within its own population and its designated forest type. In future, several specific loci can be sequenced and developed into SCAR (sequence characterized amplification region) markers for tree improvement and conservation programme of N. cadamba

A common variant near TGFBR3 is associated with primary open angle glaucoma

Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), a major cause of blindness worldwide, is a complex disease with a significant genetic contribution. We performed Exome Array (Illumina) analysis on 3504 POAG cases and 9746 controls with replication of the most significant findings in 9173 POAG cases and 26 780 controls across 18 collections of Asian, African and European descent. Apart from confirming strong evidence of association at CDKN2B-AS1 (rs2157719 [G], odds ratio [OR] = 0.71, P = 2.81 × 10−33), we observed one SNP showing significant association to POAG (CDC7–TGFBR3 rs1192415, ORG-allele = 1.13, Pmeta = 1.60 × 10−8). This particular SNP has previously been shown to be strongly associated with optic disc area and vertical cup-to-disc ratio, which are regarded as glaucoma-related quantitative traits. Our study now extends this by directly implicating it in POAG disease pathogenesis

Estimating the Wage Elasticity of Off-Farm Labour Supply of Farmers in Kemubu, Kelantan

Off-farm labour supply is very important in the transformation of agricultural economies to industrial economies. Two econometric models were used to estimate the wage elasticity of off-farm labour supply in Kemubu, Kelantan, Malaysia. A wage elasticity of approximately 2.0 was obtained from both models. The study revealed that severe poverty exist in single-cropped areas outside Kemubu. Farm households are more pressed for time with off-farm employment in double-cropped areas inside Kemubu. The twin-strategies of intensifying paddy cultivation and creating off-farm employment opportunities can be carried out concurrently. To induce farmers to seek off-farm employ­ment to augment farm incomes, off-farm employment opportunities should be created close to farm households and development policies should aim at im­proving the level of educational and vocational skills of farmers

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and viral mimicry [1]

10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13652-5Lancet36193742081-LANC

Free amino acids and osmoregulation in the intertidal pulmonate Onchidium tumidium

10.1007/s002270050590Marine Biology1344735-741MBIO

Two-dimensional impulse noise model for digital subscriber loop environment

Electronics Letters36191671-1672ELLE

Particle Ratios at the Cern P? P Collider

10.1103/PhysRevD.29.1003Physical Review D2951003-100

Particle Ratios at the Cern P? P Collider

10.1103/PhysRevD.29.1003Physical Review D2951003-100