Understanding EFL Students’ Errors in Writing

Writing is the most difficult skill in English, so most EFL students tend to make errors in writing. In assisting the learners to sucessfully acquire writing skill,  the analysis of errors and the understanding of their sources are neccessary. This study attempts to explore the major sources of errors occurred in the writing of EFL students. It also investigates the types of errors and the linguistic level that presents the most errors in their writing. Forty narrative essays composed by Thai university students were collected and analysed.  Results showed that the mostly frequent types of errors were translated words from Thai, word choice, verb tense, preposition, and comma. The errors derived from two sources: interlingual and intralingual.  Interlingual or native language interference was found to be the dominant source of errors. This study provides pedagogical implications for EFL instructors. Instructors should pay attention to the influence of learners’ native language. Keywords: errors, error analysis, interlingual, intralingual, writing, English as a foreign languag

Association of the Glu298→Asp polymorphism in the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene with risk of coronary artery disease

Genetic variants of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) could influence individual susceptibility to coronary artery disease (CAD) with or without associated demographic factors. The aim of this study was to assess whether Glu298/Asp polymorphism of the eNOS gene is associated with the occurrence and severity of angiographycially defined coronary artery disease. Polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analyses were carried out to detect the Glu298/Asp variant of the eNOS gene in 279 patients with CAD as compared to controls (250). The prevalence of the Asp298 variant of eNOS was not found to be significantly and independently associated with the risk of CAD (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.77 to 1.51, P = 0.663), extent of CAD on angiography (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 0.63 to 2.23, P = 0.605) and in-hospital mortality (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.29 to 4.04, P = 0.908). This investigation examined whether the Glu298/Asp polymorphism of the eNOS could represent a useful genetic marker to identify individuals prone to the development of atherosclerotic diseases. More studies are needed to confirm whether the Glu298/Asp polymorphism of the eNOS gene could represent a useful genetic marker to identify individuals of the study population prone to the development of atherosclerotic disease.Key words: eNOS gene, polymorphisms, coronary artery disease (CAD), risk factors, genetic markers

Spatial evaluation of speed-flow-geometry relationship on two-lane rural highways

The mean travel speed of drivers on uninterrupted flow facilities such as two-lane rural highways is deemed as good performance indicator for the subject road class; as the variable relates well with user perception. However, the operating conditions on two-lane roads relating to travel speed is different from those on other types of facilities, as fast moving vehicles in either direction are usually impeded by slower moving ones in the same travel direction and also facing oncoming traffic in the opposing lane. Thus, impeded vehicles may be compelled to travel at lower speeds than desired; particularly, in the absence of sufficient sight distance and permissible gap in the opposing traffic stream, being the appropriate lane used for passing maneuvers. This implies that the operating speed on two-lane highways substantially depends on the level of traffic flow and perhaps, its composition as well as the roadway geometric features. This paper examines the effects of traffic level, composition and road geometric features on the operating speed on two-lane highways based on a spatial approach. An empirical model relating mean travel speed to traffic flow parameters and highway geometric features was derived for prediction of mean travel speed on two-lane rural highways based on easily observable variables

Epicatechin content and antioxidant capacity of cocoa beans from four different countries

Natural antioxidant has received more attention to be part of daily diet. Cocoa beans is one of the main sources of polyphenols especially epicatechin. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between antioxidant potential and epicatechin content of raw cocoa beans from different countries, namely Malaysia, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Sulawesi (Indonesia). Antioxidant potential was determined using trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to quantify the amount of epicatechin. The epicatechin content of raw cocoa beans was in the range of 270 - 1235mg/100 g cocoa beans. Based on the two assays, Sulawesian beans exhibited the highest antioxidant capacity followed by Malaysian, Ghanaian and Cote d’Ivoirian beans for both extracts. Both ethanolic (r= 0.92) and water (r = 0.90) extracts of cocoa beans showed a significant positive and high correlation between epicatechin and TEAC value. Similarly, FRAP assay also showed a positive and high correlation with epicatechin for both ethanolic (r = 0.84) and water (r = 0.79) extracts. Results indicatedthat antioxidant capacity using two different antioxidant assays exhibited a positive and high correlation with epicatechin content in cocoa beans. Thus, epicatechin content in cocoa beans could be responsible for the antioxidant capacity

Genetic diversity of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in imported and domestic camels in Saudi Arabia

Camels gained attention since the discovery of MERS-CoV as intermediary hosts for potentially epidemic zoonotic viruses. DcHEV is a novel zoonotic pathogen associated with camel contact. This study aimed to genetically characterize DcHEV in domestic and imported camels in Saudi Arabia. DcHEV was detected by RT-PCR in serum samples, PCR-positive samples were subjected to sequencing and phylogenetic analyses. DcHEV was detected in 1.77% of samples with higher positivity in domestic DCs. All positive imported dromedaries were from Sudan with age declining prevalence. Domestic DcHEV sequences clustered with sequences from Kenya, Somalia, and UAE while imported sequences clustered with one DcHEV isolate from UAE and both sequences clustered away from isolates reported from Pakistan. Full-genome sequences showed 24 amino acid difference with reference sequences. Our results confirm the detection of DcHEV in domestic and imported DCs. Further investigations are needed in human and camel populations to identify DcHEV potential zoonosis threat