Detailed Comprehension Research Articles

A content analysis of prefectural senior high school entrance exams: What aspects of English do they assess and how?

Research into high-stakes English tests in Japan has typically focused on entrance examinations to university while few studies have investigated those for high school. In this study, a content analysis was conducted of 24 prefectural English entrance examinations for public high schools administered in 2022. We focused on the language skills and subskills targeted in the exams by referring to the socio-cognitive framework (Weir, 2005), and examined the item types and response formats, and readability of the reading passages. Key findings revealed that in terms of item distribution, the exams focus primarily on reading (62.38%), followed by listening (29.16%), and finally writing (8.46%). In terms of subskills, the exams tended to target comprehension of main ideas at the text level rather than comprehension of specific details or discrete linguistic knowledge at the sentence level. Overall, the findings highlight the convergence between the exam content and the goals of the MEXT course of study. However, the dominant focus on receptive skills remains, which presents a potential barrier to achieving positive washback from these high- stakes exams.

Using Text-to-Speech Technology for Integrative Listening Tasks

Exposure to sufficient and appropriate listening materials in a foreign language is significant for language learners in processing verbal information. Based on this concept, the present study investigates the application of a digital listening tool called text-to-speech (TTS) to integrative listening tasks and dictogloss and influence the listening ability of language learners in specified elements and their perspectives. For this study, a total of 29 university students participated in six TTS-based listening tasks (three dictogloss, two fill-in-the-blanks, and mixed tasks) in the first semester (spring) of 2022. Data were derived from pre- and posttests as academic achievement tests, a questionnaire, and a semistructured interview conducted at the end of the semester. The study employed mixed-method analysis to examine the in-depth integrative understanding of the learning effect of using TTS in dictogloss for listening skills. For quantitative analysis, each test score was compared using paired sample t-test; for qualitative analysis, the study employed content analysis for open-ended questions and semistructured interviews. The findings of the study were obtained as follows. First, the study noted significant differences in specific listening elements such as listening comprehension of details and vocabulary. Second, the participants perceived that TTS-based dictogloss was effective for understanding different accents and writing skills and motivating their self-learning ability. Along with these findings, the study suggested several pedagogical implications.

The uprise of RNA biology in neuroendocrine neoplasms: altered splicing and RNA species unveil translational opportunities.

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) comprise a highly heterogeneous group of tumors arising from the diffuse neuroendocrine system. NENs mainly originate in gastrointestinal, pancreatic, and pulmonary tissues, and despite being rare, show rising incidence. The molecular mechanisms underlying NEN development are still poorly understood, although recent studies are unveiling their genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic landscapes. RNA was originally considered as an intermediary between DNA and protein. Today, compelling evidence underscores the regulatory relevance of RNA processing, while new RNA molecules emerge with key functional roles in core cell processes. Indeed, correct functioning of the interrelated complementary processes comprising RNA biology, its processing, transport, and surveillance, is essential to ensure adequate cell homeostasis, and its misfunction is related to cancer at multiple levels. This review is focused on the dysregulation of RNA biology in NENs. In particular, we survey alterations in the splicing process and available information implicating the main RNA species and processes in NENs pathology, including their role as biomarkers, and their functionality and targetability. Understanding how NENs precisely (mis)behave requires a profound knowledge at every layer of their heterogeneity, to help improve NEN management. RNA biology provides a wide spectrum of previously unexplored processes and molecules that open new avenues for NEN detection, classification and treatment. The current molecular biology era is rapidly evolving to facilitate a detailed comprehension of cancer biology and is enabling the arrival of personalized, predictive and precision medicine to rare tumors like NENs.

Energy Balance Model for Providing Mechanistic Insights Into HTV and LSR Performance in Inclined Plane Tests

Silicone rubber (SR) is widely used in external insulation. However, the utilization of either high-temperature vulcanized (HTV) SR or liquid SR (LSR) remains controversial in China because of their differences in tracking and erosion resistance and aging resistance due to various amounts of nonreinforcing fillers. Here, the tracking and erosion behaviors of HTV and LSR during the inclined plane test (IPT) are captured and compared for a detailed comprehension of the difference between the two materials. The results revealed that LSR was easily carbonized and formed electrical tracks initially. Then, the carbonization slowed because of developing a protective ceramic layer. The relatively stable ceramic layer resulted in less frequent rapid erosion but increased the average arc burning time. An energy balance model of dry-band arcing (DBA) was established to evaluate DBA’s energy dissipation and absorption. Then, the emission spectra of DBA were collected to analyze the arc temperature and resistance more accurately. The energy input from the system is dissipated primarily through heating and evaporation of the liquid film, with radiant energy only accounting for a minuscule fraction. In different erosion states, the power absorbed by the surface of samples is different. LSR shows an average absorption power of 19.9 W in the initial carbonization state, which is higher than that of HTV (16.5 W). The average absorption power in the fast erosion state is the same for both samples at about 30 W. The absorption power at 20–25 W is considered the threshold range of relatively stable erosion.

Cone-beam CT-assisted microcatheter tip placement at the shunted pouch entry zone: A technical note for anterior condylar arteriovenous fistula.

Accurate microcatheter placement for anterior condylar arteriovenous fistula (AVF) enables selective transvenous embolization (TVE) and helps to avoid hypoglossal nerve palsy. Anterior condylar AVF has a shunted pouch within the condylar vascular and osseous structures. Detailed anatomical comprehension of the shunted pouch is essential, in addition, we believe that it is important to have a strategy for where in the shunted pouch to start filling with coils. Specifically, we consider that it is important to structurally understand the more upstream location (arterial side) within the shunted pouch (called "shunted pouch entry zone"), guide the microcatheter there, and embolize from that site. Although several studies have discussed the usefulness of intraoperative cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) for treating anterior condylar AVF, there are no studies which have mentioned the importance of microcatheter position before coil embolization in selective TVE as in this study. Intraoperative localization of the shunted pouch entry zone is often difficult. Herein, the authors report that cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) can assist accurate microcatheter tip placement at the shunted pouch entry zone before staring embolization. This is the novel application of intraoperative CBCT to treat anterior condylar AVF successfully treated with precise and selective TVE.

Moving the Brazilian ischaemic stroke pathway to a value-based care: introduction of a risk-adjusted cost estimate model for stroke treatment.

The unsustainable increases in healthcare expenses and waste have motivated the migration of reimbursement strategies from volume to value. Value-based healthcare requires detailed comprehension of cost information at the patient level. This study introduces a clinical risk- and outcome-adjusted cost estimate model for stroke care sustained on time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC). In a cohort and multicentre study, a TDABC tool was developed to evaluate the costs per stroke patient, allowing us to identify and describe differences in cost by clinical risk at hospital arrival, treatment strategies and modified Rankin Score (mRS) at discharge. The clinical risk was confirmed by multivariate analysis and considered patients' National Institute for Health Stroke Scale and age. Descriptive cost analyses were conducted, followed by univariate and multivariate models to evaluate the risk levels, therapies and mRS stratification effect in costs. Then, the risk-adjusted cost estimate model for ischaemic stroke treatment was introduced. All the hospitals collected routine prospective data from consecutive patients admitted with ischaemic stroke diagnosis confirmed. A total of 822 patients were included. The median cost was I$2210 (interquartile range: I$1163-4504). Fifty percent of the patients registered a favourable outcome mRS (0-2), costing less at all risk levels, while patients with the worst mRS (5-6) registered higher costs. Those undergoing mechanical thrombectomy had an incremental cost for all three risk levels, but this difference was lower for high-risk patients. Estimated costs were compared to observed costs per risk group, and there were no significant differences in most groups, validating the risk and outcome-adjusted cost estimate model. By introducing a risk-adjusted cost estimate model, this study elucidates how healthcare delivery systems can generate local cost information to support value-based reimbursement strategies employing the data collection instruments and analysis developed in this study.

Prognostic Significance and Immunological Role of FBXO5 in Human Cancers: A Systematic Pan-Cancer Analysis.

F-box protein 5 (FBXO5), an essential subunit of the ubiquitin protein ligase complex, is increasingly recognized to exhibit important biological effects in regulating tumor occurrence and progression. The present research was intended to systematically investigate the latent roles of FBXO5 in prognosis and immunological function across cancers. Pan-cancer analyses of FBXO5 were performed based upon publicly available online databases, mainly including the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx), UCSC Xena, cBioPortal, and ImmuCellAI, revealing the possible relationships between FBXO5 and prognosis, DNA methylation, tumor microenvironment (TME), infiltration of immune cells, immune-related genes, immune checkpoints, tumor mutation burden (TMB), and microsatellite instability (MSI). The results suggested that FBXO5 was expressed at a high level in numerous tumor cell lines with significant upregulation in most cancers as opposed to normal tissues. Of note, elevated expression of FBXO5 was significantly related to an unfavorable prognosis in many cancer types. Furthermore, DNA methylation and TME were confirmed to display evident correlation with the expression of FBXO5 in several malignancies. Moreover, FBXO5 expression was remarkably positively correlated with the levels of infiltrating Treg cells and Tcm cells in most tumors, but negatively correlated with tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells, NK/NKT cells, and Th2 cells. Meanwhile, FBXO5 was demonstrated to be co-expressed with the genes encoding immune activating and suppressive factors, chemokines, chemokine receptors, and major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Immune checkpoints, TMB, and MSI were also overtly associated with FBXO5 dysregulation among diverse kinds of cancers. Additionally, the enrichment analyses showed close relationships between FBXO5 expression and the processes related to cell cycle and immune inflammatory response. These findings provided a detailed comprehension of the oncogenic function of FBXO5. Because of its crucial roles in cancer immunity and tumorigenesis, FBXO5 may serve as a novel prognostic indicator and immunotherapeutic target for various malignancies.

Assessing reading comprehension in CET-4: a cross-sectional case study

ABSTRACT Testing reading has always been indispensable in language tests. The present study aims to evaluate three parallel reading tests from the National College English Test Band Four (CET-4) in June 2021 in terms of reading ability orientations, text readability and its correlations with reading performances. The quantitative analysis reveals: (1) in Banked Cloze (BC), lexical items designed and examined were largely confined to an intrasentential level. Meanwhile, an either-or situation was found in each test on adverbs; (2) Matching prioritized the skill of scanning for explicit details; (3) Reading in Depth (RD) focused on comprehension of facts and details while seldom involved testing gists at textual levels; (4) text readability in the same question type among the three target tests was short of an expected internal consistency and (5) the correlation between test results and text readability in CET-4 reading comprehension (RC) was not absolute but dependent on question types. Based on findings derived, this study would hopefully offer some vital clues to a more scientific design and assessment of CET reading tests in both theory and practice. And it is also expected to shed some light on evaluating text readability from new perspectives.

Deep learning-based stereo matching using the feature spatial pyramid pooling

For deep learning-based stereo matching, despite deep convolution networks possessing rich, high-level semantic features that are usually abstract and low-resolution, it is difficult to accurately calculate per-pixel correspondence without image detail information in challenging regions, such as thin objects, edge contours, reflective surfaces, etc. Motivated by the information propagation capability of the feature pyramid network (FPN), we focus on using FPN to improve the detailed comprehension of spatial pyramid pooling (SPP). We propose a feature SPP (FSPP), which consists of FPN and SPP. FSPP integrates high-frequency details reserved by FPN into multiscale features extracted by SPP to form a feature volume considering both detailed and contextual information. Using FSPP, features become distinct and alleviate the ambiguity of matching progress in challenging regions. Furthermore, we concatenate FSPP to Pyramid Stereo Matching Network with three-dimensional convolution and hourglass architecture. We also evaluate its effectiveness on the KITTI 2012/2015 and the Middlebury 2014/2021 datasets. The results show that the proposed algorithm performs better than current state-of-the-art algorithms in challenging regions while taking on better generalization.

Experimental Investigation and Numerical Simulation of a Self-Wiping Corotating Parallel Octa-Screw Extruder.

An octa-screw extruder (OSE) is equipment for pelletizing, blending, and mixing polymers and composites. In this study, the degree of resin filling, residence time distribution (RTD) of molten resin, and temperature profile in the octa-screw extruder were evaluated both experimentally and numerically. An intermeshing corotating parallel octa-screw kneading extruder was used for the experiments. For the comparison study, the results obtained from this extruder were compared with the twin-screw extruder. High-density polyethylene was selected as the material for extrusion. Meanwhile, a numerical code, based on a 2.5 D finite element method derived from the Hele–Shaw flow model, was developed to simulate the octa-screw extrusion process. The empirical outcomes suggest that octa-screw extrusion exhibited a narrower RTD of the molten resin compared with the twin-screw extrusion, suggesting better extrudate quality. The octa-screw extrusion also showed a lower temperature profile than twin-screw extrusion. The results of the simulation were also found to be in good agreement with experimental measurements. Experimental and numerical investigations of an OSE enable detailed comprehension and visualization of resin distribution in the entire length of the OSE, thus providing advantages in terms of process optimization.

Специфика хронотопа трилогии Дж. Р. Р. Толкиена «Властелин колец»

The paper aims to examine chronotope specificity of J. R. R. Tolkien’s trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”. Scientific novelty is accounted for by the fact that it is the first time that the chronotope of Tolkien’s trilogy, firstly, is comprehended through the lens of M. M. Bakhtin’s concept; secondly, is subjected to a detailed comprehension within the framework of a special study. As a result, it has been found that the trilogy has a specific spatial and temporal organisation, the key role in which is played by different temporal layers (objective and subjective, author’s, “standing still”, cyclic, perceptual time and time of magical objects), in which epic, idyllic and domestic chronotopes, as well as the road chronotope and the One Ring chronotope unfold.

Scientific specialty «Library science, bibliography science and bibliology» and specialized dissertation research (1999–2020)

In the modern world, global changes are taking place in all spheres of society, including economy, science, education and culture. In this regard, a detailed analysis and comprehension of ongoing processes become relevant to develop a specific strategy. In 2021, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education adopted the Order «On the approval of the nomenclature of scientific specialties for which scientific degrees are awarded <….>”; the nomenclature of scientific specialties was published, where specialty 05.25.03 «Library Science, Bibliography science and Bibliology» was not reflected (among pedagogical, historical, philological, technical sciences). This document came next to a draft nomenclature of scientific specialties (2020), which was widely discussed by the scientific community. The library community and representatives of university science carried out a number of activities aimed at changing the situation. The authors recreate the picture of forming and growing the profile scientific specialty, including its presentation in the nomenclature of scientific specialties for which scientific degrees are awarded since 1957; analyze statistic materials on post-graduate training of highly qualified scientific personnel and activity to defense dissertations in 1999–2020; generalize and assess the data, consider the problems and vectors of this specialty development to justify the inclusion of the specialty «Library Science, Bibliography Science and Bibliology» in the new nomenclature of scientific specialties to continue the training of highly qualified scientific personnel in graduate school, and to carry out specialized research. The article argues that the consequences of the ongoing reforms in science have led to transformations, slowing down the rotation of scientific personnel, extinguishing the activities of dissertation councils and scientific schools in library science, bibliography and bibliology in the regions and complicating the development of library and information science in general.

An experimental investigation into influences of build orientation and specimen thickness on quasi-static and dynamic mechanical responses of Selective Laser Melting 316L Stainless Steel

Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) processes like Selective Laser Melting (SLM) enable the conception of complex designs with a high precision and equal or enhanced mechanical properties compared to Conventionally Manufactured (CM) structures. Nevertheless, this process, which consists in melting metallic powders layer by layer with a laser beam, greatly influences the microstructure and therefore the mechanical properties. While some studies have considered the effects of the thickness and/or the building direction of 316L Stainless Steel (SS) specimens produced by SLM on the quasi-static mechanical behavior, the strain rate effect for crash or impact applications on these two parameters has not been fully investigated. To complete the actual knowledge, the present work proposes to analyze the mechanical behavior of 316L SS tensile specimens produced by SLM with different build orientations (0°, 45° and 90°) and thicknesses (0.5, 0.75, 1 mm) and submitted to dynamic loadings at various strain rates up to 103 s−1. In addition, the microstructure and the fracture surfaces are analyzed to give a more detailed comprehension of the mechanical tests. It results that the SLM 316L SS achieves better Yield Stress (YS), similar Ultimate Tensile Stress (UTS) and equal or lower failure strain compared to the CM material. This is mainly a result of microstructure refinement. Anisotropy is observed at the macroscopic level with higher tensile stress and lower failure strain for horizontal specimens, which is explained by the different shapes, orientation and size of the grains at the microscopic level. The mechanical properties greatly decrease as the thickness reduces from 1 to 0.5 mm, by 14% for the YS and 16% for the UTS for a quasi-static loading. A minimum thickness of 0.75 mm is advised to at least recover the mechanical properties of the CM 316L SS. A positive strain rate sensitivity, higher than the CM material, is observed for all configurations, with the exception of 0.5 mm thickness. For strain rates ranging from to 10−3 to 103 s−1, there is an increase of 20% of the UTS. The material anisotropy is not affected by the strain rate sensitivity whereas the latter increases with the thickness.

Between Text and Context: Understanding Ḥadīth through Asbab al Wurud

A comprehensive understanding of Ḥadīth, with their narrative background in Islamic tradition, would require the application of the principle of asbāb al-wurūd (discerning the specific circumstances for the reason or purpose of revealing Ḥadīth), an approach which gives detailed information about narrated Ḥadīth. Having such a comprehension about the essence of the message of Ḥadīth could enhance the understanding of Muslim audiences and followers. This situation will indirectly provide a stepping stone to comprehensive information to prevent misunderstanding the message of Islamic religion. Taking due cognizance of these circumstances could potentially result in preventing actions of religious radicalism, which might result from obtaining religious messages through a solely textual approach. In this situation, the sufficient application of asbāb al-wurūd plays a significant role in leading an order to achieve the contextual comprehension of the religious message of Ḥadīth. This paper aims to examine the significance of asbāb al-wurūd in understanding the contextual meaning of Ḥadīth beyond a textual basis. The findings reveal that the contextual elaboration of the message of Ḥadīth could be adapted in a proper way, in which its textual comprehension could be elaborated on clearly through detailing its asbāb al-wurūd, one method of which is to refer to Muslim scholars together with schools of thought in order to clearly attain the message of Islamic religion. Furthermore, this article attempts to address such a way of bringing about textual understanding to the context to assist in adapting the contextual significance of a clear and detailed comprehension of Ḥadīth. The significance of this study is to contribute to providing a detailed explanation on both text and context in seeking for clarity on the Ḥadīths’ information and message with a clear basis as a safeguard against extremist interpretations of Islam.

DEONTOLOGICAL COMPONENT OF EVALUATION-ANALYTICAL COMPETENCE OF A TEACHER

With the approval of teachers’ professional standard there is a need for a qualitatively different teacher training, which allows to combine the fundamentals of professional basic knowledge with innovative thinking and practice-oriented research approach to the implementation of a new evaluation format. Modernization of the system of education in Ukraine has radically changed the «portrait» of the modern teacher and the requirements for his work. There is a demand for professionals who not only know their subject well, but also have a flexible professional self-awareness, emotional intelligence and communication skills focused on creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship. There is a need to create a route map for the development of teachers` professionalism in Ukraine. The analysis of the teacher’s professional standard encourages to more detailed definition and comprehension of the value sphere of teacher`s professional activity. It is here, in our opinion, that the achievements of a relatively new field of scientific knowledge − pedagogical deontology − should be used. The purpose of the article is to identify and determine the place of the deontological component within the teacher`s evaluative-analytical competence in the formulation of teacher`s professional standard. Based on the comparative analysis of literature sources, the author's conclusions are formulated. Motivational-value (personal) component of the structure of evaluative-analytical competence clearly reveals the personal traits of the teacher, which gives the opportunity to reveal students` motives and aspirations. This gives grounds to define the motivational-value (personal) component as a deontological component of the teacher’s evaluative-analytical competence. It should be a trigger for fair and motivating assessment that enables the student to feel valued and find meaning in learning. The teacher forms certain models of professional behavior, which are a manifestation of the formation of his evaluative-analytical competence.

A Conserved Allosteric Site on Drug-Metabolizing CYPs: A Systematic Computational Assessment.

Cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) are the largest group of enzymes involved in human drug metabolism. Ligand tunnels connect their active site buried at the core of the membrane-anchored protein to the surrounding solvent environment. Recently, evidence of a superficial allosteric site, here denoted as hotspot 1 (H1), involved in the regulation of ligand access in a soluble prokaryotic CYP emerged. Here, we applied multi-scale computational modeling techniques to study the conservation and functionality of this allosteric site in the nine most relevant mammalian CYPs responsible for approximately 70% of drug metabolism. In total, we systematically analyzed over 44 s of trajectories from conventional MD, cosolvent MD, and metadynamics simulations. Our bioinformatic analysis and simulations with organic probe molecules revealed the site to be well conserved in the CYP2 family with the exception of CYP2E1. In the presence of a ligand bound to the H1 site, we could observe an enlargement of a ligand tunnel in several members of the CYP2 family. Further, we could detect the facilitation of ligand translocation by H1 interactions with statistical significance in CYP2C8 and CYP2D6, even though all other enzymes except for CYP2C19, CYP2E1, and CYP3A4 presented a similar trend. As the detailed comprehension of ligand access and egress phenomena remains one of the most relevant challenges in the field, this work contributes to its elucidation and ultimately helps in estimating the selectivity of metabolic transformations using computational techniques.

Keeping the host alive - lessons from obligate intracellular bacterial pathogens.

Mammals have evolved sophisticated host cell death signaling pathways as an important immune mechanism to recognize and eliminate cell intruders before they establish their replicative niche. However, intracellular bacterial pathogens that have co-evolved with their host have developed a multitude of tactics to counteract this defense strategy to facilitate their survival and replication. This requires manipulation of pro-death and pro-survival host signaling pathways during infection. Obligate intracellular bacterial pathogens are organisms that absolutely require an eukaryotic host to survive and replicate, and therefore they have developed virulence factors to prevent diverse forms of host cell death and conserve their replicative niche. This review encapsulates our current understanding of these host-pathogen interactions by exploring the most relevant findings of Anaplasma spp., Chlamydia spp., Rickettsia spp. and Coxiella burnetii modulating host cell death pathways. A detailed comprehension of the molecular mechanisms through which these obligate intracellular pathogens manipulate regulated host cell death will not only increase the current understanding of these difficult-to-study pathogens but also provide insights into new tools to study regulated cell death and the development of new therapeutic approaches to control infection.

Fitting thermodynamic-based models: Incorporating parameter sensitivity improves the performance of an evolutionary algorithm

A detailed comprehension of transcriptional regulation is critical to understanding the genetic control of development and disease across many different organisms. To more fully investigate the complex molecular interactions controlling the precise expression of genes, many groups have constructed mathematical models to complement their experimental approaches. A critical step in such studies is choosing the most appropriate parameter estimation algorithm to enable detailed analysis of the parameters that contribute to the models.In this study, we develop a novel set of evolutionary algorithms that use a pseudo-random Sobol Set to construct the initial population and incorporate parameter sensitivities into the adaptation of mutation rates, using local, global, and hybrid strategies. Comparison of the performance of these new algorithms to a number of current state-of-the-art global parameter estimation algorithms on a range of continuous test functions, as well as synthetic biological data representing models of gene regulatory systems, reveals improved performance of the new algorithms in terms of runtime, error and reproducibility. In addition, by analyzing the ability of these algorithms to fit datasets of varying quality, we provide the experimentalist with a guide to how the algorithms perform across a range of noisy data.These results demonstrate the improved performance of the new set of parameter estimation algorithms and facilitate meaningful integration of model parameters and predictions in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation.

Implementation of a Successful Sterilization and High-Level Disinfection Outpatient Program

Background To ensure that new acquired clinics perform sterilization and high-level disinfection (HLD) according to best practice guidelines, a comprehensive competency program was begun by our Infection Prevention (IP) Program. The competency program included a classroom session, reprocessing demonstration, and a subsequent competency checkoff. The program reviewed topics pertaining to point of care cleaning, cleaning, instrument inspection, preparation and packaging, autoclaving, logging, and biological indicators (for sterilization) and other quality control items. Methods IP specialists conducted a detailed inspection and comprehension assessment of the clinics’ sterilization and HLD practices that mirrored the competency program. Baseline IP surveys were completed between 2014-2016 and were compared to phase-one (2016-2017), phase-two (2017-2018) and phase-three surveys (2019-2020) to measure the competency programs impact on reprocessing practices. Only clinics that performed sterilization or HLD during all three surveys were included. For analysis, the sterilization scores were further divided into reprocessing area, point of care/cleaning, preparation/quality, and logging/storage subcategories. HLD scores were separated into reprocessing area, point of care/cleaning, preparation/quality, and after HLD/logging/storage subcategories. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine significance for the overall clinic average. Results A total of 38 clinics were included in the sterilization analysis, and 8 clinics in the HLD. The overall clinic scores for sterilization were baseline (65%), phase-one (93%), phase-two (94%) and phase-three (94%) (p-value: Conclusions The competency program improved sterilization and HLD reprocessing in every category assessed and it has sustained for the next five years validating the value of a comprehensive competency program with an education, demonstration, and evaluation component. To ensure that new acquired clinics perform sterilization and high-level disinfection (HLD) according to best practice guidelines, a comprehensive competency program was begun by our Infection Prevention (IP) Program. The competency program included a classroom session, reprocessing demonstration, and a subsequent competency checkoff. The program reviewed topics pertaining to point of care cleaning, cleaning, instrument inspection, preparation and packaging, autoclaving, logging, and biological indicators (for sterilization) and other quality control items. IP specialists conducted a detailed inspection and comprehension assessment of the clinics’ sterilization and HLD practices that mirrored the competency program. Baseline IP surveys were completed between 2014-2016 and were compared to phase-one (2016-2017), phase-two (2017-2018) and phase-three surveys (2019-2020) to measure the competency programs impact on reprocessing practices. Only clinics that performed sterilization or HLD during all three surveys were included. For analysis, the sterilization scores were further divided into reprocessing area, point of care/cleaning, preparation/quality, and logging/storage subcategories. HLD scores were separated into reprocessing area, point of care/cleaning, preparation/quality, and after HLD/logging/storage subcategories. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine significance for the overall clinic average. A total of 38 clinics were included in the sterilization analysis, and 8 clinics in the HLD. The overall clinic scores for sterilization were baseline (65%), phase-one (93%), phase-two (94%) and phase-three (94%) (p-value: The competency program improved sterilization and HLD reprocessing in every category assessed and it has sustained for the next five years validating the value of a comprehensive competency program with an education, demonstration, and evaluation component.

The implementation of the Student Response System (SRS) Kahoot! in EFL classes and its effects on reading comprehension

Improvement of teacher-student class interaction has been obtaining greater progresses thanks to technological development with the addition of practical resources and modern facilities in educational institutions. The use of game-based response systems for enhancing language skills inside an EFL classroom has reported benefits mainly for certain particular skills like grammar and sentence structuring. In this study, the online gaming platform Kahoot! was used specifically for enhancing the reading comprehension skill through a period of nearly three months on students of A2 level from Universidad de Cuenca in Ecuador. The intervention of the Kahoot! website focused on the comprehension and remembering of specific details by means of quizzes. The research design of this study used a mixed-method based on the Hypothetico-Deductive approach to research and data collection instruments, as well as their further analysis and interpretation. Pre and posttests were used in order to compare the results before and after the methodology. The outcomes revealed a statistical improvement with favorable effects regarding the pre and posttests and also a general learner acceptance towards the stated methodology. Further research is suggested on the use of Kahoot! for reading comprehension improvement purposes and its continuous use as a supporting tool for remembering specific details of texts, together with other subskills which could possibly be benefitted from this methodology in the field of EFL instruction.