5 research outputs found
The Challenges of Listening to Academic Lectures for EAP Learners and the Impact of Metacognition on Academic Lecture Listening Comprehension
No full textAcademic listening skill is an indispensable necessity for English for academic purposes (EAP) students in English-medium universities and also critical for their future success in comprehending conference lectures. But due to the specific nature of such academic lectures, nonnative students all too often face challenges in getting a full command of this task. This study investigates the challenges of listening to academic lectures and the impact of related metacognitive strategies on academic lecture listening comprehension on a group of Iranian learners in an EAP workshop. Fifteen academic staff who took part in two intact classes at the University of Qom, Iran, were randomly assigned to treatment ( N = 8) and control ( N = 7) groups. The treatment group received 16 hr of metacognitive strategy instruction based on the models proposed by Vandergrift during academic listening instruction, while the control group was just exposed to academic lectures with no explicit strategy instruction. The academic listening sections of the British International English Language Testing System (IELTS) were utilized to measure the listening comprehension of both groups before and after the treatment. The results of the data analysis determined that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in the listening posttest. The interviews before and after the treatment revealed details of challenges in academic lecture comprehension and also shed light on the perception of the learners regarding metacognitive strategy instruction and the frequency of main metacognitive strategies used in comprehending academic lectures
Structural and Functional Analysis of Lexical Bundles in Medical Research Articles: A Corpus-Based Study
Get PDFAs a member of larger familyof formulaic sequences, lexical bundles play different discourse functions in written research articles. This study investigated the use of four-word lexical bundles in published research articles in medicine via natural language processing by computational linguistics. A corpus of 2,420,914 words was extracted from 790 research articles in 33 medical disciplines. For the identification of lexical bundles, a number of computer software products such as ABBYY FineReader 10 professional edition, Total assistant, Antconc 3.2.3, and WordSmith Tools 5 were used. The identified lexical bundles were classified structurally and functionally based on the taxonomies in the literature. The results of the study showed that 102 identified lexical bundles differ structurally and functionally and most of the writers of medical research articles rely on text-oriented bundles for establishing their written academic discourse. This study provided new insights in understanding the discipline-specific discourse of medical research articles and in doing further corpus-based research in written academic discourse and EAP. This research introduced stylistic linguistics point of view in information retrieval systems development
Knowledge and attitudes towards E-cigarette use in Lebanon and their associated factors
Get PDFBackground: Despite the misconceptions regarding E-cigarettes (ECs), only a few studies have been conducted in the Middle East that focused on this topic. This study assesses the knowledge of and attitudes towards ECs in Lebanon, determines how these two measures are associated, and identifies the variables that explain each of these measures. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample of Lebanese pedestrians aged between 18 and 64 inclusive. A structured self-administered questionnaire comprising of knowledge and attitude scales, and questions on demographical, health and smoking characteristics was used. Results: Scores for attitudes and knowledge of ECs were summed and dichotomized using a 75% cutoff, above which the participant was considered to have a positive attitude and good knowledge. Among the 352 participants (56.6% males, 43.3% females, mean age 30.3, 46.2% smokers), 63.3% exhibited a lower level of EC knowledge. More than 50% erroneously thought that ECs are not associated with lung and bladder cancer or impair lung and heart function. 65% falsely thought that it is harmless and not addictive. As for attitude, 43.3, 53.9, and 44.3% thought that it is socially acceptable, helps in smoking cessation, and is a good replacement for cigarettes and an enjoyable recreational device respectively. Our results revealed an inverse correlation between attitude and knowledge scores (Spearman's correlation = -.30, p <.001). Predictors of knowledge included health-related occupation (p =.010), regular exercise (p =.016), healthy diet (p =.026), EC use (p =.026), perception that ECs are not harmful (p =.001), and help in smoking cessation (p =.017). Predictors of attitude included EC use (p =.008), sex (p =.010), and knowledge that most ECs are addictive (p =.006), harmful (p =.014), and impair heart and lung function (p =.047). Conclusions: Our study revealed a gap in EC knowledge, especially among participants who displayed a positive attitude towards ECs. Hence, measures should be undertaken to regulate its use by instituting more stringent laws and holding nationwide awareness campaigns. © 2020 The Author(s)
Exploring the cost-effectiveness of high versus low perioperative fraction of inspired oxygen in the prevention of surgical site infections among abdominal surgery patients in three low- and middle-income countries
No full textBackground: This study assessed the potential cost-effectiveness of high (80–100%) vs low (21–35%) fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) at preventing surgical site infections (SSIs) after abdominal surgery in Nigeria, India, and South Africa. Methods: Decision-analytic models were constructed using best available evidence sourced from unbundled data of an ongoing pilot trial assessing the effectiveness of high FiO2, published literature, and a cost survey in Nigeria, India, and South Africa. Effectiveness was measured as percentage of SSIs at 30 days after surgery, a healthcare perspective was adopted, and costs were reported in US dollars (216 compared with 6 (95% confidence interval [CI]: −1) difference in costs. In India, the average cost for high FiO2 was 195 for low FiO2 leading to a −15 to −1164 compared with 93 (95% CI: −65) difference in costs. The high FiO2 arm had few SSIs, 7.33% compared with 8.38% for low FiO2, leading to a −1.05 (95% CI: −1.14 to −0.90) percentage point reduction in SSIs. Conclusion: High FiO2 could be cost-effective at preventing SSIs in the three countries but further data from large clinical trials are required to confirm this. © 2023 The Author
Pooled analysis of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist use and mortality after emergency laparotomy
Get PDFBackground
The World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist has fostered safe practice for 10 years, yet its place in emergency surgery has not been assessed on a global scale. The aim of this study was to evaluate reported checklist use in emergency settings and examine the relationship with perioperative mortality in patients who had emergency laparotomy.
Methods
In two multinational cohort studies, adults undergoing emergency laparotomy were compared with those having elective gastrointestinal surgery. Relationships between reported checklist use and mortality were determined using multivariable logistic regression and bootstrapped simulation.
Results
Of 12 296 patients included from 76 countries, 4843 underwent emergency laparotomy. After adjusting for patient and disease factors, checklist use before emergency laparotomy was more common in countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI) (2455 of 2741, 89·6 per cent) compared with that in countries with a middle (753 of 1242, 60·6 per cent; odds ratio (OR) 0·17, 95 per cent c.i. 0·14 to 0·21, P < 0·001) or low (363 of 860, 42·2 per cent; OR 0·08, 0·07 to 0·10, P < 0·001) HDI. Checklist use was less common in elective surgery than for emergency laparotomy in high‐HDI countries (risk difference −9·4 (95 per cent c.i. −11·9 to −6·9) per cent; P < 0·001), but the relationship was reversed in low‐HDI countries (+12·1 (+7·0 to +17·3) per cent; P < 0·001). In multivariable models, checklist use was associated with a lower 30‐day perioperative mortality (OR 0·60, 0·50 to 0·73; P < 0·001). The greatest absolute benefit was seen for emergency surgery in low‐ and middle‐HDI countries.
Conclusion
Checklist use in emergency laparotomy was associated with a significantly lower perioperative mortality rate. Checklist use in low‐HDI countries was half that in high‐HDI countries
