The Relationship between Vocabulary Size and Reading Comprehension among Japanese EFL Learners

This paper explores the correlation between reader performance on a standardized reading exam, which was gauged using scores from the reading section of the TOEFL ITP and the GTEC, and vocabulary size, which was measured by administering the bilingual Japanese version of the Vocabulary Size Test (BJVST). A few factors influence reading comprehension, vocabulary size being the primary consideration. To determine the degree to which vocabulary size measured by the Japanese bilingual version of the VST could be used to predict academic reading proficiency measured by the TOEFL ITP reading section, 100 Japanese first-year university students were given the Vocabulary Size Test (Nation & Beglar, 2007) and two reading comprehension tests. The results showed a weak correlation between vocabulary size as determined by the Japanese bilingual version of the VST and performance on the TOEFL ITP and the GTEC. Since other research has established strong links between reading proficiency and vocabulary size, the findings suggest that the VST, especially this bilingual version, alone may be unreliable predictors of reading comprehension levels. In the conclusion, we will suggest possible remedies for the continued use of the VST and paths of future study

WE DIED AND WERE REBORN: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF HEALTH-SEEKING STRATEGIES FOR MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL DISTRESS IN POST-WAR EASTERN SRI LANKA

Since the early 2000s, Sri Lanka has made major gains in decentralizing and expanding state-based mental healthcare access and services outside of Colombo. However, little evidence exists related to on-the-ground experiences of Sri Lankans who access these services, the quality and sustainability of services, and the effects services have on individual therapy management of mental and emotional distress. In addition to an extensive historical review of mental health service provision, this dissertation explores strategic health-seeking practices among Tamil-speaking communities in eastern Sri Lanka—an area ravaged by high rates of poverty, 26 years of civil war, and the 2004 tsunami catastrophe. Across 21 months of ethnographic research, I observed psychiatric, traditional, and religious mental healthcare practices and client interactions with both doctors and healers. I also conducted 58 semi-structured interviews with clients, family members, mental health doctors and staff, and traditional healers. I analyze clients’ life histories, local pluralistic therapies, as well as socioeconomic changes in post-war eastern Sri Lanka shaping experiences of suffering, treatment practices, and accessibility to resources and knowledge. I document the origin of mental health services in the east, subsequent barriers associated with increased demand for services, organizational changes, and a significant decrease in resources. Such social changes led to a heavy reliance on inexpensive biomedical drugs to alleviate mental illness and emotional distress. Given these shifts, and stigma associated with state-based mental healthcare, clients find strategic ways to associated with psychiatric treatments. This research positions local expressions of distress as tied to South Asian cultural ideas about mental health, and social inequalities linked to changing gender roles, transnational labor, sexual morality, and family economic status. Evidence collected from this research builds on existing contextually-based analyses to inform global health campaigns aimed at improving access to mental healthcare. Research and practice must adopt a more nuanced view of historical features, cultural processes, and socioeconomic changes that present challenges and/or opportunities for doctors and residents seeking out mental healthcare in post-war settings

Matching bias in syllogistic reasoning: Evidence for a dual-process account from response times and confidence ratings

We examined matching bias in syllogistic reasoning by analysing response times, confidence ratings, and individual differences. Roberts’ (2005) “negations paradigm” was used to generate conflict between the surface features of problems and the logical status of conclusions. The experiment replicated matching bias effects in conclusion evaluation (Stupple & Waterhouse, 2009), revealing increased processing times for matching/logic “conflict problems”. Results paralleled chronometric evidence from the belief bias paradigm indicating that logic/belief conflict problems take longer to process than non-conflict problems (Stupple, Ball, Evans, & Kamal-Smith, 2011). Individuals’ response times for conflict problems also showed patterns of association with the degree of overall normative responding. Acceptance rates, response times, metacognitive confidence judgements, and individual differences all converged in supporting dual-process theory. This is noteworthy because dual-process predictions about heuristic/analytic conflict in syllogistic reasoning generalised from the belief bias paradigm to a situation where matching features of conclusions, rather than beliefs, were set in opposition to logic

Design and implementation of the SBX1: a smart environment chamber for biological research and discovery

2021 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Modern biomedical laboratories make significant use of environmentally controlled chambers for incubation and examination of live cell samples. They require precise control over temperature, humidity, and gas concentration to mimic natural conditions for cell survival and growth. Many incubators and live cell imaging systems exist as commercial products; however, they are prohibitively expensive, costing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on capabilities of the system. This thesis presents the electrical, optical, mechanical, and software design of the SBX1Smart Environment Chamber. This device aims to fulfill the needs of most users at a lower cost than current commercial offerings, providing an opportunity for less funded labs to pursue biomedical research and development. The chamber provides temperature, humidity, and gas concentration controls, an internal microscope with an automated stage, and an integrated ARM microcomputer to with a graphical user interface for control and monitoring of the system. A patent has been filed for the SBX1; application no. US 2020/0324289 A1

A Case Study of Teaching MBA Quantitative Analysis Online

Advancements in video capture and learning management systems (LMS) provide faculty with more tools than ever before to effectively teach quantitative business subjects to graduate students enrolled in blended and online courses. Students pursuing an MBA often come from diverse educational and professional backgrounds, with some continuing directly from undergraduate programs while others may be returning to school after spending years in the workforce. These students require instructional design that is both comprehensive and flexible to meet their various needs, accommodating the increasing preference for visual content delivery. Early in an MBA program, a course in quantitative analysis often serves multiple purposes including as a refresher of prerequisite knowledge areas, an introduction to graduate topics of management science, and a preparation for future courses in the curriculum. This case study paper describes the evolution of an MBA managerial quantitative analysis course using instructor-created videos and a modern LMS in both blended and online formats. The proposed model includes designing a consistent module structure, establishing a virtual classroom environment that extensively uses tutorial videos, setting appropriate course rules, and creating an effective assignment philosophy. The proposed best practices will allow this model structure to be used for other quantitative business courses

Assessing the relationship between spectral solar irradiance and stratospheric ozone using Bayesian inference

We investigate the relationship between spectral solar irradiance (SSI) and ozone in the tropical upper stratosphere. We find that solar cycle (SC) changes in ozone can be well approximated by considering the ozone response to SSI changes in a small number individual wavelength bands between 176 and 310 nm, operating independently of each other. Additionally, we find that the ozone varies approximately linearly with changes in the SSI. Using these facts, we present a Bayesian formalism for inferring SC SSI changes and uncertainties from measured SC ozone profiles. Bayesian inference is a powerful, mathematically self-consistent method of considering both the uncertainties of the data and additional external information to provide the best estimate of parameters being estimated. Using this method, we show that, given measurement uncertainties in both ozone and SSI datasets, it is not currently possible to distinguish between observed or modelled SSI datasets using available estimates of ozone change profiles, although this might be possible by the inclusion of other external constraints. Our methodology has the potential, using wider datasets, to provide better understanding of both variations in SSI and the atmospheric response.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate (accepted), pdf version is in draft mode of Space Weather and Space Climat

Dominance Over N

Abstract.This paper provides an overview of the b-dominance order over the natural numbers, N, using the base b expansion of natural numbers. The b-dominance order is an accessible partially-ordered set that is less complex than the divisor relation but more complex than ≤; thus, it supplies a good medium through which an undergraduate can be exposed to the subject of order theory. Here we discuss many ideas in order theory, including the Poincaré polynomial and the Möbius function. Acknowledgements: The authors thank the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust and the Pacific Lutheran University Division of Natural Sciences for their generous support. They would also like to extend their thanks to Dr. Tom Edgar for the project idea and all his help throughout their summer program. Page 24 RHIT Undergrad. Math. J., Vol. 14, no. 2

Dominance Over ℵ

This paper provides an overview of the b-dominance order over the natural numbers, ℵ, using the base b expansion of natural numbers. The b-dominance order is an accessible partially-ordered set that is less complex than the divisor relation but more complex than ≤; thus, it supplies a good medium through which an undergraduate can be exposed to the subject of order theory. Here we discuss many ideas in order theory, including the Poincare polynomial and the Mobius function