China's changing landscape during the 1990s : large-scale land transformations estimated with satellite data

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 32 (2005): L02405, doi:10.1029/2004GL021649.Land-cover changes in China are being powered by demand for food for its growing population and by the nation's transition from a largely rural society to one in which more than half of its people are expected to live in cities within two decades. Here we use an analysis of remotely sensed data gathered between 1990 and 2000, to map the magnitude and pattern of changes such as the conversion of grasslands and forests to croplands and the loss of croplands to urban expansion. With high-resolution (30 m) imagery from Landsat TM for the entire country, we show that between 1990 and 2000 the cropland area increased by 2.99 million hectares and urban areas increased by 0.82 million hectares. In northern China, large areas of woodlands, grasslands and wetlands were converted to croplands, while in southern China large areas of croplands were converted to urban areas. The land-cover products presented here give the Chinese government and international community, for the first time, an unambiguous understanding of the degree to which the nation's landscape is being altered. Documentation of these changes in a reliable and spatially explicit way forms the foundation for management of China's environment over the coming decades.This work has been supported by the Key Project of National Science Foundation of China (90202002), Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) 973 Program (2002CB412500), the Key Knowledge Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences K2CX2-308), NASA Interdisciplinary Science Program (NNG04GM39C), National Science Foundation of China (40128005)

Recruitment and Salary Disparity between Monolingual and Bilingual EFL Teachers in Oman

This is the final version. Available on open access from Hindawi via the DOI in this recordLiterature in the field of TESOL recruitment practices suggests that the myth of monolingual speakerism has impacted the employment methods in various countries in the world. The monolingual (native) speaker has a privileged position in English language teaching, representing both the model speaker and the ideal teacher. Bilingual teachers of English are often perceived as less competent than their monolingual counterparts in Oman. The aim of the study was to critically explore and problematize the recruitment practices that discriminate the bilingual English teachers in Oman. This article reports the findings of a small-scale qualitative study conducted at an English Language Center (ELC) at one of the colleges of technology in Oman (CoTs) through obtaining data from bilingual teachers of English. The results demonstrated that the native (monolingual) speakers’ fallacy is “alive and kicking” in Oman. All the recruiting agencies prefer to recruit monolingual speakers justifying this stance on the pretext that bilinguals are viewed as incompetent imitators of English. There is also a huge discrimination based on salary range between monolingual and bilingual teachers, despite doing same job. Colonial impact is another reason behind monolingual speakers’ preference. The impact of discrimination is that bilingual teachers of English are left feeling inferior. Hence, it is essential to adopt policies, which install greater sense of job security to enhance motivation and innovation. The study suggests that there is an urgent need to review the recruitment practices in Oman to establish equality and to create a healthy working environment

A Comparative Study of Power Distance of English Teachers and Non-English Teachers in Classroom Interaction in Iranian High Schools

This is the final version. Available on open access from Richtmann Publishing via the DOI in this recordSince cultural factors play a crucial role in creating behavioral patterns, investigating the relationship between English teachers and students can be a good index for discovering the level of power distance in the classroom environment with different cultures manifesting in their interactions. The current study has attempted to compare female high school students' viewpoints towards English teachers and non-English teachers in the Iran context to discover the difference in power distance between English and non-English teachers and their students. To this end, the present research was conducted in 3 high schools for females with female teachers, and the data was gathered through a five-item Likert scale questionnaire investigating students' viewpoints towards five main elements: Acceptability, Respect, Teaching method, behavioral patterns, and Friendship. The findings revealed a high power distance between English teachers and their students in an English class interaction than non-English teachers such as science teachers, math teachers, physics teachers, chemistry teachers, and art teachers and their students. In turn, the results implied positive viewpoints towards English teachers. Regarding four factors, Acceptability, Respect, Teaching method, and Behavior, there is a significant difference between the viewpoints towards English and non-English teachers. On the other hand, there is no significant difference between the two variables in terms of friendship

Sedlin and prostaglandin E2 dehydrogenase - interactions and implications for spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia tarda

Session D - Genomic Disorders: abstract no. D020Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia tarda (SEDT) is a rare X-linked, late-onset skeletal disease. Affected individuals develop phenotypes in their early childhood, displaying barrel-shaped chests, vertebral bodies malformation, flattened disc spaces and premature osteoarthritis in weight-bearing joints. The disease was found linked to the gene SEDL coding for the protein sedlin. Sedlin is one of the subunits of the TRAPP (Transport Protein Particle) complex, which is responsible for vesicle tethering during endoplasmic reticulum-to-golgi transport. Although sedlin is known to function in intracellular trafficking, the reason why mutations in a trafficking protein lead to a skeletal disease remains unknown. To address this, four missense mutations (D47Y, S73L, F83S and V130D) of sedlin observed in SEDT patients were studied. Except D47Y, the other three mutations cause proteosomal degradation of sedlin in cultured cells, whereas the D47Y mutation had a minor effect on Bet3 binding to sedlin. Pull-down assay was performed to identify novel sedlin interacting partners. 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (PGDH) was pulled down and the interaction was confirmed in cell culture system. Sedlin activates PGDH activity in vitro. By confocal microscopy, sedlin was also found to colocalize with PGDH in the cytosol. PGDH catalyzes the degradation of prostaglandin E2, which affects cartilage and bone growth. Further investigation is ongoing to understand the function of sedlin and the mechanism of disease for SEDT.postprintThe 1st International Congress on Research of Rare and Orphan Diseases (RE(ACT) 2012), Basel, Switzerland, 29 February-2 March 2012. In Brochure of RE(ACT)® 2012, 2012, p. 11

Exploring the Perceptions of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners about Reading Comprehension Ability

This is the final version. Available on open access from Sheikhbahaee University via the DOI in this recordLearners’ perception of culture on receptive skills more specifically on reading comprehension has been an area facing a big challenge contemporarily. The current research aimed to investigate the cultural perception of Iranian EFL learners on reading comprehension ability. To conduct the study, a mixed-methods design consisting of a questionnaire and interview study was used. Participants, 50 intermediate EFL learners (25 males, 25 females), were randomly selected using Oxford Placement Test. The participants were provided with two passages with different cultural contents (one containing Iranian culture and another containing culture of English spoken countries). Then participants were required to fill in a Likert-scale questionnaire which was distributed through Google form online platform. Also, an interview session was conducted to gather more detailed data. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded to find common themes. Analysis of interview and questionnaire data showed that learners hold similar cultural perceptions on reading comprehension ability by gender and social class has no significant impact on learners' perceptions. The results of the study specified that Iranian EFL learners held a positive attitude towards the integration of cultural materials into reading passages to better comprehend the target language. Moreover, it was seen that gender and social class did not impact significantly learners' cultural perceptions of English reading comprehension. The findings imply that ESL students with various reading levels or capabilities can learn from materials that are culturally diverse, specifically the ones at higher reading proficiency levels

Assessing English language teachers’ understanding and practices of student-centered learning in Oman

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer via the DOI in this recordAvailability of data and materials: The data will be available upon request.Student-centered learning assessment (SCLA) constitutes a major component of current educational initiatives at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS). However, little research has been conducted on English teachers’ understanding and practices of SCL assessment. Therefore, this study seeks to explore English teachers’ understanding and practices of SCL assessment at UTAS in Oman. The findings could provide information regarding teachers’ understanding and practices of SCLA. The findings may contribute to how English teachers define SCLA, what SCL-related activities they conduct, and how often these are conducted. Sixty-one teachers participated in the study with an average of 24 years of experience. A series of interviews and questions were used to elicit data from the participants. A questionnaire was used to explore teachers’ understanding of SCLA. Interviews were used in conjunction with the questionnaires to obtain more detailed information from the participants. The findings of this study showed that each of the English teachers has their definitions and understandings of SCLA; however, it was difficult to understand teachers’ definitions of SCLA due to the lack of a common definition for this term in the literature. Teachers should be encouraged to empower students by working in mixed groups on the basis that the advanced students each head up separate groups. The implication is to allow less able students to mimic and imitate their peers and improve their comprehension, pronunciation, and vocabulary in and out of the classroom. Future research could be enhanced by other stakeholders, such as students and administrators, involvement

Development of a culturally sensitive life review program for Chinese patients with advanced cancer

2010-2011 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Trends in beverage prices following the introduction of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in Barbados.

A 10% excise tax on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) was implemented in Barbados in September 2015. A national evaluation has been established to assess the impact of the tax. We present a descriptive analysis of initial price changes following implementation of the SSB tax using price data provided by a major supermarket chain in Barbados over the period 2014-2016. We summarize trends in price changes for SSBs and non-SSBs before and after the tax using year-on-year mean price per liter. We find that prior to the tax, the year-on-year growth of SSB and non-SSB prices was very similar (approximately 1%). During the quarter in which the tax was implemented, the trends diverged, with SSB price growth increasing to 3% and that of non-SSBs decreasing slightly. The growth of SSB prices outpaced non-SSBs prices in each quarter thereafter, reaching 5.9% compared to <1% for non-SSBs. Future analyses will assess the trends in prices of SSBs and non-SSBs over a longer period and will integrate price data from additional sources to assess heterogeneity of post-tax price changes. A continued examination of the impact of the SSB tax in Barbados will expand the evidence base available to policymakers worldwide in considering SSB taxes as a lever for reducing the consumption of added sugar at the population level.Financial support for the analyses presented in this paper was from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (TEPHINET). The full evaluation is receiving support from the Canadian International Development Research Centre (grant no. 107604-001), the Pan American Health Organization. MA is funded through a Gates Cambridge PhD Scholarship. JA is funded by the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), a UKCRC Public Health Research Centre of Excellence. Funding from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, and the Wellcome Trust, under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, is gratefully acknowledged

Metabolic syndrome in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection who do not have obesity or type 2 diabetes

OBJECTIVE: The individual components of metabolic syndrome may be independent predictors of mortality in patients with liver disease. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its related components in hepatitis C virus-infected patients who are not obese and do not have type 2 diabetes. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 125 patients infected with hepatitis C virus genotype 1. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the International Diabetes Federation. Anthropometric data were measured according to standardized procedures. Bioimpedance analysis was performed on all patients. RESULTS: Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed in 21.6&#37; of patients. Of the subjects with metabolic syndrome, 59.3&#37; had hypertension, 77.8&#37; had insulin resistance, 85.2&#37; were overweight, 48.1&#37; had a high waist circumference, 85.2&#37; had an increased body fat percentage, and 92.3&#37; had an elevated waist:hip ratio. In the bivariate analysis, female sex (OR 2.58; 95&#37; CI: 1.09-6.25), elevated gamma-glutamyl transferase (&#947;GT) (OR 2.63; 95&#37; CI: 1.04-7.29), elevated fasting glucose (OR 8.05; 95&#37; CI: 3.17-21.32), low HDL cholesterol (OR 2.80; 95&#37; CI: 1.07-7.16), hypertriglyceridemia (OR 7.91; 95&#37; CI: 2.88-22.71), elevated waist circumference (OR 10.33; 95&#37; CI: 3.72-30.67), overweight (OR 11.33; 95&#37; CI: 3.97-41.07), and increased body fat percentage (OR 8.34; 95&#37; CI: 2.94-30.08) were independent determinants of metabolic syndrome. Using the final multivariate regression model, similar results were observed for abdominal fat (OR 9.98; 95&#37; CI: 2.63-44.41) and total body fat percentage (OR 8.73; 95&#37; CI: 2.33-42.34). However, metabolic syndrome risk was also high for those with blood glucose >5.55 mmol/L or HDL cholesterol <0.9 mmol/L (OR 16.69; 95&#37; CI: 4.64-76.35; OR 7.23; 95&#37; CI: 1.86-32.63, respectively). CONCLUSION: Metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent among hepatitis C virus-infected patients without type 2 diabetes or obesity. Metabolic syndrome was significantly associated with hypertension, insulin resistance, increased abdominal fat, and overweight