Error Analysis in the Written Compositions of Spanish Engineering Students: A Comparative Taxonomy

Needless to say, writing is a language skill that for most FL students is quite difficult to master. Especially for undergraduate technical students, this seems to be a challenging task since the presence of difficulties in any FL writing forces them to commit various errors in their written productions. Henceforth, errors seem to be inevitable when writing in a foreign language. And in order to regulate this appearance of errors, many researchers have started to study the errors made by these students, putting then into different categories. Therefore, what this research paper tries to identify and track is those errors made by engineering students in a public Spanish Polytechnic University over the last two academic years. We shall attempt to categorise errors based on their source following the comparative taxonomy proposed by Dulay, Burt and Krashen in “Language Two” (1982), one of the different taxonomies as established by them.And in order to conduct this research, a total of 70 essays undertaken by a number of engineering students were selected taking into account their written productions along the task assigned in these two last academic years. These numerous writings have thus been analysed and the errors detected have been tracked down and categorised basing ourselves on the comparative analysis of errors. The main objective of this study is to prove that the results obtained from this analysis have undoubtedly demonstrated that the majority of errors committed by these engineering students can be classified as belonging to the interlingual category, being the category with the highest number of occurrences, contrary to the opinion of some other researchers. In terms of the number of incidences, we shall validate that the errors detected in those 70 essays can be graded in the following order according to this comparative taxonomy of errors: interlingual errors, other errors, ambiguous errors, and developmental errors

The distributional consequences of tax reforms under capital-skill complementarity

This paper analyses wage inequality and the welfare effects of changes in capital and labour income tax rates for different types of agents. To achieve this, we develop a model that allows for capital–skill complementarity given non-uniform distributions of asset holdings and labour skills. We find that capital tax reductions lead to the highest aggregate welfare gains but are skill-biased and thus increase inequality. However, our analysis also shows that the inequality effects of capital tax reductions are lower over the transition period compared with the long run

Paintomics: a web based tool for the joint visualization of transcriptomics and metabolomics data

Motivation: The development of the omics technologies such as transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics has made possible the realization of systems biology studies where biological systems are interrogated at different levels of biochemical activity (gene expression, protein activity and/or metabolite concentration). An effective approach to the analysis of these complex datasets is the joined visualization of the disparate biomolecular data on the framework of known biological pathways

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of flavanol-containing tea, cocoa and apple products on body composition and blood lipids: exploring the factors responsible for variability in their efficacy

Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses support the benefits of flavanols on cardiometabolic health, but the factors affecting variability in the responses to these compounds have not been properly assessed. The objectives of this meta-analysis were to systematically collect the RCTs-based-evidence of the effects of flavanol-containing tea, cocoa and apple products on selected biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk and to explore the influence of various factors on the variability in the responses to the consumption of these products. A total of 120 RCTs were selected. Despite a high heterogeneity, the intake of the flavanol-containing products was associated using a random model with changes (reported as standardized difference in means (SDM)) in body mass index (−0.15, p < 0.001), waist circumference (−0.29, p < 0.001), total-cholesterol (−0.21, p < 0.001), LDL-cholesterol (−0.23, p < 0.001), and triacylglycerides (−0.11, p = 0.027), and with an increase of HDL-cholesterol (0.15, p = 0.005). Through subgroup analyses, we showed the influence of baseline-BMI, sex, source/form of administration, medication and country of investigation on some of the outcome measures and suggest that flavanols may be more effective in specific subgroups such as those with a BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2, non-medicated individuals or by specifically using tea products. This meta-analysis provides the first robust evidence of the effects induced by the consumption of flavanol-containing tea, cocoa and apple products on weight and lipid biomarkers and shows the influence of various factors that can affect their bioefficacy in humans. Of note, some of these effects are quantitatively comparable to those produced by drugs, life-style changes or other natural products. Further, RCTs in well-characterized populations are required to fully comprehend the factors affecting inter-individual responses to flavanol and thereby improve flavanols efficacy in the prevention of cardiometabolic disorders

La situación de las profesoras hispanas en el sistema universitario estadounidense

Resumen Estados Unidos, según datos de World University Rankings, cuenta en su haber con seis de las diez mejores universidades del mundo. Según la Oficina del Censo de los Estados Unidos, la población latina ha representado la mayor parte del crecimiento demográfico del país durante la última década (56%). Pero desafortunadamente, este crecimiento no se ha visto reflejado en la educación superior. Mientras que los estudiantes hispanos se están matriculando en mayor número cada año, los profesores latinos, y muy especialmente las profesoras, no han visto un crecimiento similar, constituyendo sólo el 4% del profesorado universitario en todo el país. Este artículo pretende ofrecer una visión general de la situación actual con respecto al profesorado femenino de origen hispano en la educación superior estadounidense y analizar el importante papel desempeñado por el mismo por medio de sus figuras más relevantes o destacadas. Para ello, debido a la naturaleza de nuestra investigación, vamos a seguir una metodología histórica, teniendo en cuenta que en la elaboración del estudio nos hemos basado en una combinación de fuentes primarias y secundarias. Y como conclusión final, un objetivo importante debería ser el aumento del profesorado universitario femenino de origen hispano en el sistema universitario estadounidense.Abstract The United States, according to the World University Rankings, has six out of the ten best universities in the world. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Latino population has accounted for most of the country's population growth during the last decade (56%). But unfortunately, this growth has not been reflected in higher education. While Hispanic students are enrolling in higher numbers each year, Latino teachers, and very especially the female ones, have not seen a similar growth, making up only around the 4% of university faculty nationwide. This article aims to provide an overview of the current situation regarding Hispanic female professors in American higher education and analyze the important role played by them throughout their most relevant or prominent figures. For this, due to the nature of our research, we will follow a historical methodology, taking into account that in the elaboration of the study we have based ourselves on a combination of primary and secondary sources. And as a final conclusion, we will conclude that an important goal should be then the increase of female university professors of Hispanic origin in the higher education system in the United States.Keywords Hispanic population, university system, Hispanic professors, influence, educational charges.

Targeting the delivery of dietary plant bioactives to those who would benefit most : from science to practical applications

Open access via Springer Compact Agreement Acknowledgements This article is based upon work from COST Action FA1403 POSITIVe (Interindividual variation in response to consumption of plant food bioactives and determinants involved) supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology; www.cost.eu). BdR is funded by the Scottish Government Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS) division. Funding COST Action FA1403-European Cooperation in Science and Technology (www.cost.eu).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Quantitative parameters for the examination of InGaN QW multilayers by low-loss EELS

We present a detailed examination of a multiple InxGa1-xN quantum well (QW) structure for optoelectronic applications. The characterization is carried out using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), combining high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) imaging and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Fluctuations in the QW thickness and composition are observed in atomic resolution images. The impact of these small changes on the electronic properties of the semiconductor material is measured through spatially localized low-loss EELS, obtaining band gap and plasmon energy values. Because of the small size of the InGaN QW layers additional effects hinder the analysis. Hence, additional parameters were explored, which can be assessed using the same EELS data and give further information. For instance, plasmon width was studied using a model-based fit approach to the plasmon peak; observing a broadening of this peak can be related to the chemical and structural inhomogeneity in the InGaN QW layers. Additionally, Kramers-Kronig analysis (KKA) was used to calculate the complex dielectric function (CDF) from the EELS spectrum images (SIs). After this analysis, the electron effective mass and the sample absolute thickness were obtained, and an alternative method for the assessment of plasmon energy was demonstrated. Also after KKA, the normalization of the energy-loss spectrum allows us to analyze the Ga 3d transition, which provides additional chemical information at great spatial resolution. Each one of these methods is presented in this work together with a critical discussion of their advantages and drawbacks

Characterization and Production of Fuel Briquettes Made from Biomass and Plastic Wastes

In this study, the physical properties of briquettes produced from two different biomass feedstocks (sawdust and date palm trunk) and different plastic wastes, without using any external binding agent, were investigated. The biomass feedstocks were blended with different ratios of two waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) plastics (halogen-free wire and printed circuit boards (PCBs)) and automotive shredder residues (ASR). The briquettes production is studied at different waste proportions (10–30%), pressures (22–67 MPa) and temperatures (room–130 °C). Physical properties as density and durability rating were measured, usually increasing with temperature. Palm trunk gave better results than sawdust in most cases, due to its moisture content and the extremely fine particles that are easily obtained.This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain) (Grant Number CTQ2016-76608-R) and the Valencian Community Government (Spain) (Grant Number PROMETEOII/2014/007). The research received funds for covering the costs to publish in open access

Heavy-flavour production in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC, measured with the ALICE detector

We present the first results from the ALICE experiment on the nuclear modification factors for heavy-flavour hadron production in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt{s_NN}=2.76 TeV. Using proton-proton and lead-lead collision samples at sqrt{s}=7 TeV and sqrt{s_NN}=2.76 TeV, respectively, nuclear modification factors R_AA(pt) were measured for D mesons at central rapidity (via displaced decay vertex reconstruction), and for electrons and muons, at central and forward rapidity, respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, plenary talk at Quark Matter 2011, Annecy, Franc