Blogs in Language Learning Enhancing Students’ Writing Skills through Blogs

Unlike receptive skills, such as reading and listening, writing has received relatively little attention in second language learning. The reason for this lack of attention is that reading and listening are assumed to create competence in second language learning since they form the input on which learning is based. Moreover, a number of studies in several English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts have indicated that second language learners consider writing skills as the most difficult skills to master. A number of studies also promote the use of educational technologies in teaching the English language, and blogging, in particular, is considered to be one of the promising educational media that can be used as a genuine tool to teach EFL in a way that enables the learners to use English for authentic and day-to-day life situations. The use of blogging has been shown to enable the students to learn English for real-life situations and purposes which eventually will enhance the EFL learners’ English language competence in general and their writing skills in particular. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to examine the extent to which this new technology can enhance EFL Omani writing. In this study, multiple qualitative methods were used within an interpretivist approach and a case study methodology to gather the required data. Therefore, after choosing the study context and working with foundation students at the Institute of Health in Oman, the following methods were applied. First, an open-ended questionnaire was used to establish baseline perceptions and to select the six students for in-depth examination. Second, a student blog was created and implemented, in which each participant had to write three original essays plus an edited version of each one based on peers’ comments on their work. Subsequently, field notes were applied within the participants’ writing class, and finally, the participants and their teacher were interviewed. The study obtained the following findings. The use of blogging as a new medium in teaching writing skills enabled Omani students to have a new learning experience where several changes occurred: 1. A change in understanding of being a writer, 2. A change in understanding of a text, 3. A changing pedagogy for the writing classroom and 4. A changing classroom culture in the EFL writing classes. This study is characterised by its original design and approach, by its context within the Arab world and its findings are likely to influence teaching L2 writing skills while applying new educational technology. The study offers compelling evidence that blogging facilitates interaction with peers and teachers and that this interaction changes both the understanding and practice of writing

Predictors of Compliance and Predictive Values of the Breast Cancer Screening Program of the Oman Cancer Association (2009-2016)

Background: Most breast cancers in Oman are diagnosed at advanced stages and therefore early detection is important. The Oman Cancer Association (OCA) initiated a mobile mammography program in 2009 but no studies have evaluated the impact of the program. This study aimed to estimate the proportion of OCA-screened women who had repeated mammography (compliance) and the associated predictors. The sensitivity and specificity of the program were also evaluated. Methods: Data for 13,079 women screened in the mammography clinic of OCA from 2009-2016 and medical records of all breast cancer patients seen at Royal and Sultan Qaboos University hospitals during the same period were retrieved and abstracted. Data included demographics and screening results from OCA and diagnosis and treatment from the two hospitals. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify predictors of compliance. Results: A total of 8,278 screened women over age 42 years were in the study (median age 50 years, standard deviation (SD) 8 years). Only 18% of screened women were compliant with mammography screening. Predictors of compliance included age 50-69 years, family history of cancer, family history of breast cancer, and breast self-examination. The cancer detection rate was 4.1/1000 screened women. Positive predictive value of screening mammography was 4.7% with a sensitivity rate of 53% and specificity of 92%. Conclusion: This study showed low mammography compliance rate among previously screened women. The study revealed low sensitivity, high specificity, and acceptable cancer detection rate. Future programs should focus on improving data collection for screened women, initiating linkage of databases between breast cancer screening and treatment clinics, and developing guidelines and policies for breast cancer screening in Oman

Fabrication of Polyvinylidene Fluoride Hollow Fiber Membranes for Membrane Distillation

Desalination technologies can help humanity tap into the most abundant source of water on earth, seawater; however, desalination is an energy-demanding process. Most of the desalination plants worldwide use conventional energy resources; therefore, desalination leaves a large carbon footprint. Solar energy is an available source of energy that can be harvested and integrated into desalination systems. Membrane distillation (MD) is an emerging purification technology that many offers many advantages over traditional desalination systems. For starters, it can utilize low-grade thermal energy to drive the separation, therefore, it can be suitably integrated into the solar-thermal energy scheme. Additionally, MD can be used to desalinate challenging water streams with minimal pretreatment, which makes it a suitable candidate for off-grid desalination in rural regions. Herein, the lack of proper membranes and designed modules, membrane wetting and fouling, and the thermodynamic inefficiency in this system were identified as the bottleneck of the MD process, and novel solutions to tackle challenges were investigated. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes suitable for MD were fabricated using nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS). The membranes were fully characterized to gain insight into the characteristics of MD membranes. By adjusting the parameters controlling NIPS, membrane characteristics such as porosity, thickness, geometry, surface topography, and gas permeability were controlled. The desalination performance of the membranes, as well as their fouling and wetting propensity, were evaluated and studied. Some post-processing methods were employed on the membranes to hinder their fouling and wetting tendencies in MD operation. The membranes that were fabricated in this study displayed robust performance in challenging water streams

Fabrication of Polyvinylidene Fluoride Hollow Fiber Membranes for Membrane Distillation

Desalination technologies can help humanity tap into the most abundant source of water on earth, seawater; however, desalination is an energy-demanding process. Most of the desalination plants worldwide use conventional energy resources; therefore, desalination leaves a large carbon footprint. Solar energy is an available source of energy that can be harvested and integrated into desalination systems. Membrane distillation (MD) is an emerging purification technology that many offers many advantages over traditional desalination systems. For starters, it can utilize low-grade thermal energy to drive the separation, therefore, it can be suitably integrated into the solar-thermal energy scheme. Additionally, MD can be used to desalinate challenging water streams with minimal pretreatment, which makes it a suitable candidate for off-grid desalination in rural regions. Herein, the lack of proper membranes and designed modules, membrane wetting and fouling, and the thermodynamic inefficiency in this system were identified as the bottleneck of the MD process, and novel solutions to tackle challenges were investigated. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes suitable for MD were fabricated using nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS). The membranes were fully characterized to gain insight into the characteristics of MD membranes. By adjusting the parameters controlling NIPS, membrane characteristics such as porosity, thickness, geometry, surface topography, and gas permeability were controlled. The desalination performance of the membranes, as well as their fouling and wetting propensity, were evaluated and studied. Some post-processing methods were employed on the membranes to hinder their fouling and wetting tendencies in MD operation. The membranes that were fabricated in this study displayed robust performance in challenging water streams