Strategy to Improve English Vocabulary Achievement during Covid-19 Epidemic. Does Quizizz Help?

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is being increasingly recognized as needing vital emphasis at a national level. To enhance learning in Science and Mathematics, the repertoire of vocabularies plays a significant role. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues its spread across the world, people’s vocabulary learning has been limited. Responding to this situation with appropriate awareness, e-learning is being applied to teach the English language. The intent of this study is to utilize Quizizz to enhance the vocabulary achievement among primary English as Second Language (ESL) pupils in rural schools. The study’s research employed mixed methods with purposive sampling of 13 participants. The research site was a rural school located 60km from the nearest town. The data were collected both pre and post-test as designed by the researcher and Likert scale questionnaire. The data was analyzed using appropriate quantitative analysis. To shed more light on the implementation, a thematic analysis by use of a semi-structured interview was conducted. The study finds that 10 out of 13 participants have shown an increase in their post-test of filling in the blank scoring test. The data is strengthened by a moderately high mean score of a Likert scale questionnaire. Furthermore, the participants highlighted that the Quizizz’s leaderboard matched their favored learning style. In this way, this feature tends to evoke a positive learning atmosphere. Thus, it can be concluded that Quizizz could enhance vocabulary achievement among primary English as Secondary Language (ESL) pupils in rural schools

Debt Maturity And Stock Returns: An Inter-Sectoral Comparison Of Malaysian Firms

This firm-level study examines whether the effects of financial leverage on stock returns of 12 Bursa Malaysian sectors can be explained by debt maturity. When total leverage is used, only 3 out of 12 sectors exhibit a significant relationship with stock returns. However, when the leverage is divided by using short-term and long-term debt, regressions in 9 out of 12 sectors reveal that either form of disaggregated leverage exhibits a significant relationship with returns at least at a 5% significance level. The results suggest that the return-leverage relationship could be indirect in terms of maturity. The panel regressions also show that sector-specific analysis is more meaningful and practical due to the mixed relationship identified. The empirical conclusions are further supported by using two indicators of financial leverage, i.e. book leverage and market leverage. The results are robust when the firm and the time effects are taken into consideratio

Effects of nitrite and pH on a tropical fish fry, puntius gonionotus (Bleeker)

The effects of short term and long term exposure of a tropical fish fry, Barbodes gonionotus (Bleeher), to pH and nitrite separately and in combination, were evaluated using static and flow-through bioassays respectively. The 96-hour LC50 values of pH and nitrate were 4.9 and 7.91 mg/l N02-N -respectively. However the 96-hour LC50 of pH was higher (5.4 pH unit) in the presence of nitrite 5.00 mg/l N02-N) than that without nitrite. At pH 5.00,100% mortality was found at 4.00 mg/l N02-N concentration after 48-hour exposure. Under long-term exposure, the growth rates of the fish fry decreased with increased nitrite concentrations. Fish fry grown at 2.00 mg/l N02-N had significantly lower growth rate (P < 0.05) than the control, but had a significantly higher rate (P < 0.05) than in the 4.00 mg/l N02-N (PH 7.33-7.56). One hundred per cent mortality occurred within 30 days at pH 5.00 - 7.00 when the fish were exposed to 4.00 mg/l N02-N concentration at the same time. The study demonstrated that the effects of combined pH and nitrite on the survival and growth rates of the fish fry were more serious than the effects of each factor separately

Locating Problematic Road Sections: Comparisons between Crash Data and Composite Index Method

Aware on the importance of upgrading and maintaining the safety level of existing road network, several attempts on localizing problematic road areas have been made. In current practice, the identification of those problematic sections was recognized based on the road’s safety level and one of the most common and acceptable method is by using crash data of the particular road network as a starting point for further actions. However, the information provided by crash data is far from providing good and broad pictures of the factors leading to crash. These circumstances have bringing out the needs to have another road safety indicator that can extensively describes actual situations at problematic road areas as well as can be used as a basis for further maintenance works. By focusing on the environment aspect of the roads, fourteen road environment indicators were chosen based on their abilities to portrayed current road environment conditions and its potential in triggering road traffic crashes. Data of these indicators were collected by means of naturalistic driving method within 80 km length road of Federal Road 2 connecting Kuantan and Maran Town in Pahang State. Composite road environment risk index was developed using these data where combination of risk generated from these environments aspects were evaluated and used in localizing problematic road sections. Apart from that, the outcomes were also used as basis in planning for road improvement plans. The development of composite road environment risk index as a proactive method in defining poor sections has proved to be very useful in identifications of problematic road sections requiring urgent road improvement works especially when crash data is not available or in poor quality

Assessment of governance of fisher communities of inland openwater fisheries in Bangladesh

The Community Based Fisheries Management (CBFM) with partnership arrangement of government, non-government organisations, fisher communities and other stakeholders has introduced community management of inland openwater fisheries in Bangladesh. This arrangement introduced CBFM approaches named fisher-led, community-led and women-led approach. One of the principles behind community based managed fisheries is to improve democratisation process of changing governance of fisheries aiming to manage their resources efficiently. The CBFM approach has made a significant contribution towards improvement of governance and democracy to fisher communities. Besides, a wider range of local institutional arrangements as community based organizations (CBOs) have been established through participatory process with legal entity. Now, there is practice of governance and democracy within CBOs and fisher communities. They are more efficient in participation of fisheries management. This paper presents and assesses the governance status of the fisher communities in inland openwater fisheries under co-management arrangement in Bangladesh. In summary, it might recommend at policy level to scale up community based fisheries approach to promote governance for better management with a long term commitment

Intraoperative PTH Monitoring in Normohormonal Primary Hyperparathyroidism

Background: A subset of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism present with inappropriately normal PTH levels despite elevated serum calcium, called normohormonal primary hyperparathyroidism (NHPHP). This disease variant presents a clinical dilemma regarding intraoperative parathyroid hormone (IOPTH) monitoring during parathyroidectomy when using the standard criteria of a ≥ 50% reduction in IOPTH from baseline to determine surgical success. This study aimed to determine what percent reduction in post-excision IOPTH from baseline in NHPHP patients would yield a high cure rate similar to that of classic primary hyperparathyroidism. Methods: This was a single surgeon, single institution retrospective cohort study of patients that underwent parathyroidectomy between July 2013 and February 2020. Demographic, preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative metrics were collected. Patients with NHPHP were compared to those with classic primary hyperparathyroidism. Results: 496 patients were included in the study. 66 (13.3%) were of the normohormonal variant based on preoperative intact PTH levels and 28 (5.6%) based on baseline IOPTH levels. The cure rates in the normohormonal groups were not significantly different from their classic counterparts: 98.4% and 100.0% vs 97.1% and 97.1%, p = 1.000. The median percent decline in post-excision IOPTH from baseline that achieved cure in the normohormonal groups were 82.8% and 80.4% compared to their respective controls of 87.3% and 87.1%, p = 0.017 and p=0.001. Conclusion: A ≥ 75% decline in 15-minute post-excision IOPTH level from baseline can be used as a more stringent criterion for achieving high rates of cure in patients with NHPHP that undergo parathyroidectomy

Water quality and bacterial populations in a tropical marine cage culture farm

A study was conducted to investigate fluctuations in different physical and chemical parameters, and bacterial populations in a tropical marine cage culture farm for one annual cycle. Samples were collected from the centre of the farm (station 1) and away from the cages (station 2). There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in water quality parameters, such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and pH between the two stations during the neap and spring tides. Nutrient concentrations and bacterial counts were slightly higher at station 1 than station 2, but the differences were not significant (P > 0.05). In general, nutrients and chlorophyll a concentrations in the study area were higher than those reported in the pristine marine environment. There were significant correlations (P 0.05) in nutrient levels and bacterial populations between the neap and spring tides, probably because of the large number of farms operating in the shallow channel. The present study indicates that high organic loading from the fish farming activities could cause deterioration of the water quality in the cage-culture system as well as in the surrounding environment

Physical function limitation among gay and bisexual men aged ≥55years with and without HIV: findings from the Australian Positive and Peers Longevity Evaluation Study (APPLES)

Background. As people living with HIV now have a life expectancy approaching that of the general population, clinical care focuses increasingly on the management and prevention of comorbidities and conditions associated with aging. We aimed to assess the prevalence of physical function (PF) limitation among gay and bisexual men (GBM) and determine whether HIV is associated with severe PF limitation in this population. Methods. We analysed cross-sectional data from GBM aged ≥55 years in the Australian Positive and Peers Longevity Evaluation Study who completed a self-administered survey on health and lifestyle factors. PF was measured using the Medical Outcomes Study–Physical Functioning scale. Factors associated with severe PF limitation were assessed using logistic regression. Results. The survey was completed by 381 men: 186 without HIV and 195 with HIV. Median age was 64.3 years for GBM without HIV and 62.1 years for GBM with HIV. Compared with men without HIV, those with HIV had higher proportions of severe (13.3% vs 8.1%) and moderate-to-severe (26.7% vs 24.2%) PF limitation. Severe PF limitation commonly involved difficulty with vigorous activity (95% with severe PF limitation described being limited a lot), climbing several flights of stairs (68.4% limited a lot), bending, kneeling or stooping (60.5% limited a lot), and walking 1 km (55.0% limited a lot). In a model adjusted for age, body mass index, typical duration of physical activity, psychological distress, and number of comorbidities, we found a significant association between HIV and severe PF limitation (adjusted odds ratio 3.3 vs not having HIV, 95% confidence interval 1.3–8.7). Conclusions. The biological mechanisms underlying this association require further investigation, particularly given the growing age of the HIV population and inevitable increase in the burden of PF limitation

Imaging high-dimensional spatial entanglement with a camera

The light produced by parametric down-conversion shows strong spatial entanglement that leads to violations of EPR criteria for separability. Historically, such studies have been performed by scanning a single-element, single-photon detector across a detection plane. Here we show that modern electron-multiplying charge-coupled device cameras can measure correlations in both position and momentum across a multi-pixel field of view. This capability allows us to observe entanglement of around 2,500 spatial states and demonstrate Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen type correlations by more than two orders of magnitude. More generally, our work shows that cameras can lead to important new capabilities in quantum optics and quantum information science.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure