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Election campaigns are constantly regarded as a persuasive campaign to convince the nation to vote for the leader of a country. Being said such, this study investigates the discourse of twitter of two political premiers in Asia: Former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Tun Razak (henceforth, Najib) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi (henceforth, Modi), in the aspects of discursive strategies and speech acts during election campaigns. The discourse of Najib and Modi are selected due to their active participation on Twitter throughout election campaigns. The data were collected over 3 months throughout the national elections of both the countries, which were from February to April 2013 in Malaysia and January to March 2014 in India. This qualitative study employs Wodak's discursive strategies to analyze the lexical choices utilized in the election tweets and Searle's speech act taxonomy to analyze the speech acts used. The presence of two major speech acts was highlighted during the elections: commissives and directives. These two speech acts collaborated under the hood of discursive strategies of predication and perspectivation that empowered Najib and Modi to establish a strong contact with citizens while creating a sense of integrity and oneness. This study is significant as it creates political and language awareness to citizens by denoting how political figures establish power through mutual consent with citizens using Twitter. Furthermore, this study enlightens citizens on how the 140-character tool can influence the political decision-making of a community.

Many dynamic approaches have emerged due to computer technology in facilitating language learning skills. Podcasting is one such novel tool being exploited by teachers to deliver educational content and to encourage learning outside the classroom. Research on podcasting pedagogy suggests that podcasting greatly helps learners develop various skills of English language. The study reviewed twenty journal articles to determine the effects of podcast on ESL students' language skills and attitude levels. It was found that podcasts greatly support learning not just in speaking and listening but also in other language skills and areas such as grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary.

Taking cognizance of the purported variation of phyllodes tumours in Asians compared with Western populations, this study looked at phyllodes tumours of the breast diagnosed at the Department of Pathology, University of Malaya Medical Centre over an 8-year period with regards to patient profiles, tumour parameters, treatment offered and outcome. Sixty-four new cases of phyllodes tumour were diagnosed during the period, however only 30 (21 benign, 4 borderline and 5 malignant) finally qualified for entry into the study. These were followed-up for 4-102 months (average = 41.7 months). Thirteen cases (8 benign, 3 borderline, 2 malignant) were Chinese, 9 (all benign) Malay, 7 (4 benign, 1 borderline, 2 malignant) Indian and 1 (malignant) Indonesian. Prevalence of benign versus combined borderline and malignant phyllodes showed a marginally significant difference (p=0.049) between the Malays and Chinese. Patients' ages ranged from 21-70 years with a mean of 44.9 years with no significant difference in age between benign, borderline or malignant phyllodes tumours. Except for benign phyllodes tumours (mean size = 5.8 cm) being significantly smaller at presentation compared with borderline (mean size = 12.5 cm) and malignant (mean size = 15.8 cm) (p<0.05) tumours, history of previous pregnancy, breast feeding, hormonal contraception and tumour laterality did not differ between the three categories. Family history of breast cancer was noted in 2 cases of benign phyllodes. Local excision was performed in 17 benign, 2 borderline and 3 malignant tumours and mastectomy in 4 benign, 2 borderline and 2 malignant tumours. Surgical clearance was not properly recorded in 10 benign phyllodes tumours. Six benign and all 4 borderline and 5 malignant tumours had clearances of <10 mm. Two benign tumours recurred locally at 15 and 49 months after local excision, however information regarding surgical clearance was not available in both cases. One patient with a malignant tumour developed a radiologically-diagnosed lung nodule 26 months after mastectomy, was given a course of radiotherapy and remained well 8-months following identification of the lung nodule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Writing is considered an important language skill. Although the importance of writing is undeniably realized and highly stressed by ESL scholars, educators and instructors, most ESL tertiary students and young graduates find creating a coherent and extended piece of writing difficult and challenging. Therefore, to overcome this problem, there is a need to be aware of the students' experiences and attitudes to writing in their first language and English language. This research is a quasi-experimental study that employs a mixed-method approach. Participants were 30 tertiary ESL students enrolled in an obligatory course in the first year of Bachelor of Arts (English) programme. The study compares participants' writing experiences and attitudes using questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. An interview was also conducted as a triangulation measure. Results suggest that participants mostly preferred using English language for various writing activities. Moreover, overall items of the questionnaire revealed that the there was no significant difference between the participants' writing attitudes in their first language and English language. Furthermore, with regard to each item of the questionnaire, three of them showed significant difference. Although the remaining items did not show any significant difference, most of the items did receive higher mean for attitude to writing in English than first language. Participants' interview responses revealed various reasons for their attitude, which supported findings obtained from the questionnaire analysis. The findings of the present study contribute to a better understanding of why some of the students do not like to write. Considering those reasons, instructors can then help their students to improve on their writing skill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juxtaglomerular cell tumors (JGCTs) are rare tumors characterized by renin synthesis, hyperaldosteronism and hypertension. A curious immunohistochemical overlap between JGCT and gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) including the expression of vimentin, CD34, CD117, α-smooth muscle actin was previously reported, prompting us to further investigate JGCT and its phenotypic and molecular genetic characteristics. Virtual karyotyping showed gain of chromosomes 3, 4, 10, 13, 17 and 18 in one JGCT, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) study confirmed this multiple gain pattern. Additionally, loss of chromosome 9 was observed in four of six cases analyzed with FISH. A whole genome expression analysis revealed 415 up-regulated (including renin, and CD117) and 325 down-regulated genes between the 2 cases. The study confirmed earlier reports on the gain of chromosomes 4 and 10, and provided further evidence of up-regulation of the genes located on these 2 chromosomes. For the first time our study indicated the importance of the loss of chromosome 9 and loss of expression of several tumor suppressor genes located on this chromosome as possible pathogenetic events important in development of JGCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for cross-cultural understanding of the relationship between culture and learning style is becoming increasingly important because of the changing cultural mix of classrooms and society at large. The research done regarding the two variables is mostly quantitative. This review summarizes results of the existing research on cultural variations in learning styles. Limitations of the existing studies are discussed and some suggestion for future research is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth of using Web 2.0 tools such as blogs has increased online courses in education. Questioners are the most commonly used instruments to assess students' attitudes toward the online courses. This study provides a set of specific guidelines that the researchers used to develop a questionnaire to measure students' attitudes toward the course blog. It focuses on test construction and instrument validation as two primary stages in developing the questionnaire and details a series of steps nested within two stages. Participants were 30 undergraduate students enrolled in a course blog. To analyze the data, qualitative findings of interview were complemented by statistical results from quantitative data. To improve content adequacy and internal validity of the instrument items, 25 students who took part in piloting the instrument were interviewed. We carried out Statistical analysis to evaluate inter-item correlations, and reliability alpha coefficient of the instrument items. The guidelines applied in this study can be used in other studies to develop a valid instrument to measure other constructs, particularly when a researcher does not have access to a large sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital explosion of information on the Internet has resulted in a need for a new and up-to-date way for Digital Natives to learn English. Educators have reported numerous benefits of using weblogs in English language learning. This article presents a small scale study on the use of weblogs for English language learning at tertiary level in Malaysia. Twenty six students kept weblogs for a duration of a semester. This study investigated how students perceived the use of weblogs for English language learning. A questionnaire which was made up of both close-ended and open-ended questions was administered at the end of the study. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to analyse the students' responses to the questionnaire. The study found that students were aware of their audience when they blogged and that they geared their writing towards their audience. In addition, they also interacted with others through the use of the comment feature on their weblogs. Furthermore, the majority of the students enjoyed blogging and found weblogs useful for English language learning. This study found that weblogs are promising interactive tools for English language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of using blogs among college students has great impact in online communication. It is therefore important to identify how learners with different characteristics use this technology. This study examines if bloggers' cognitive styles particularly field-dependency affects students' attitudes toward blogs. The subjects were a class of undergraduate students enrolled in an obligatory course. The Group Embedded Figures Test was administered which classified them as either field dependent or field independent. Then, they were requested to respond to a questionnaire designed to assess their attitudes toward blogs on three factors: blog anxiety, blog desirability, and blog selfefficacy. Although field-dependents had lower blog anxiety, blog desirability, and blog self-efficacy than field-independents in using blogs, the difference was not statistically significant. Moreover, conclusions drawn from the interview questions support the notion that both field dependents and field independents appeared to have positive attitudes towards using blogs in a learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the wide application of advanced technology in education, many attitude scales have been developed to evaluate learners' attitudes toward educational tools. However, with the rapid development of emerging technologies, using blogs as one of the Web 2.0 tools is still in its infancy and few blog attitude scales have been developed yet. In view of this need, a lot of researchers like to design a new scale based on their conceptual and theoretical framework of their own study rather than using available scales. The present study reports the design and development of a blog attitude scale (BAS). The researchers developed a pool of items to capture the complexity of the blog attitude trait, selected 29 items in the content analysis, and assigned the scale comprising 29 items to 216 undergraduate students to explore the underlying structure of the BAS. In exploratory factor analysis, three factors were discovered: blog anxiety, blog desirability, and blog self-efficacy; 14 items were excluded. The extracted items were subjected to a confirmatory factor analysis which lent further support to the BAS underpinning structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of a study on the prevalence of mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer genes. It mentions that increased susceptibility for such cancer is usually associated with deleterious mutations of the genes, particularly in families with both breast and ovarian cancer. Improved mutation detection by a comprehensive screening approach for the genes may be effective for the identification of deleterious mutations.

Summary: Fibroepithelial lesions of the breast are biphasic lesions with epithelial and stromal components, as exemplified by fibroadenoma and phyllodes tumour. Fibroadenomas are benign, but a subset of complex fibroadenoma is associated with slightly increased long-term cancer risk. Phyllodes tumour is characterised by a leaf-like pattern arising from stromal expansion. It shows a variable degree of malignancy, with a potential for recurrence or metastasis. Conventionally, histological parameters of stromal cellularity, nuclear pleomorphism, overgrowth, mitotic activity and margin configuration are used for grading, but no definitive criteria have been identified to predict the behaviour. Other markers that have been investigated so far include p53, hormonal receptors, proliferation markers, angiogenesis, c-kit (CD117) and CD10 (CALLA), all without clear-cut advantage over histological criteria. There is also emerging histological and molecular evidence that fibroadenoma and phyllodes tumour may be related and epithelial–stromal interaction may play a role in the pathogenesis of these fibroepithelial lesions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

OBJECTIVE: An elevated homocysteine level has been reported for patients with schizophrenia and depression. We investigated the frequency of the common C667?T variant of the enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase in controls and patients of Chinese descent. METHODS: Controls with no history of mental disorder and patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar and unipolar disorders were recruited. Genomic DNA from all were genotyped for the C667?T polymorphism by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in genotype distributions or allele frequencies between controls and any of the diagnostic groups, although the frequency of the T allele was higher for all diagnostic groups and for both the male and female genders. When data was analyzed with the minor T allele as dominant, there was an excess of the T-containing genotypes in each of the patient groups compared with controls. For the difference between controls and all cases combined it almost reached statistical significance (P=0.077), with an odds ratio of 1.46 (95% confidence interval, 0.962.22). CONCLUSIONS: Although there was no significant association as measured by the P value, the odds ratio and confidence interval provided some evidence of increased risk for individuals with the T-containing genotypes. A minor role for this polymorphism in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and depression could not be ruled out and would warrant further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]