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This article explores the usefulness of a web-based education game for learning English idioms and examines attitudinal factors contributing to the learning of the idioms with the game. The two studies reported in this article involved two groups of English as a foreign language students in two different contexts. The students were surveyed on their opinions of language learning and games and tested on their idiom knowledge before and after using the web-based educational game over a similar period of gameplay time. The studies found that both groups had significant gains in idiom knowledge, with some variation. It was also found that idiom knowledge improvement was largely mediated by willingness to learn English. In addition, other factors such as satisfaction and self-perception of improvement were noted. It is suggested that, in game-based language learning, attitudinal and motivational factors such as satisfaction with games and willingness to learn with games need to be carefully considered as they can generate positive learning outcomes. Further studies on the use of online educational games for language learning are recommended to be conducted in and out of the classroom in line with the evaluation of the games. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the production of essential oils and aromatics to be possible throughout the year, it is necessary to continuously supply the plant raw material to the industry or store the plant material for a designated time. However, to allow the plant material to remain in storage with a high quality, it is essential to reduce its water content by drying. This has motivated the oil extraction industries to demand a better yield and quality from the drying process and raw materials, necessitating fast and efficient evaluation parameters. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop an electric conductivity test for evaluating the quality of aromatic and medicinal plants and to quantify the essential oil yield of the dry vegetable material. The drying experiments were conducted at different temperatures and air velocities by altering the control of the drying conditions. Various aromatic plants with different plant mass, volume of deionized water, and temperature of the vegetal material were examined by the electric conductivity test. The qualities of the fresh and dry plants were compared through these tests and yields of essential oil. Increase in the drying air temperature influenced the increase in the dehydration rate of the aromatic and medicinal plants. Higher drying temperatures decreased the physical quality as evaluated by the electric conductivity test and essential oil yield of the aromatic and medicinal plants. The parameters for validation of the electric conductivity test methodology in aromatic and medicinal plants were defined as an exposure time of 33 h, 5 g of fresh plant material in 75 mL of deionized water, 1 g of dry plant material in 50 mL of deionized water, and temperature of 25°C. The electric conductivity test was demonstrated as an appropriate method to be used in the quality control of aromatic plants in essential oil extraction industries. The use of the electric conductivity test will enable the oil extraction industry to monitor the yield and quality of the essential oils extracted from the aromatic plants after drying and storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Production factors and processing are associated to nutritional rice composition. • Cultivars and processing altere the physicochemical quality of the grains. • Fertilization levels enhance the nutritional quality of rice grains. • NIR, X-ray diffraction and SEM associated with qualitative rice diagnosis. • Cultivars and fertilizations management can assist in the rice milling industry. Cultivars and fertilization levels influence rice productivity and can be associated with grain quality. Thus, it is possible to make decisions regarding the choice of cultivars and application of fertilizer levels based on the type of milling, a necessary post-harvest process that may minimize the nutrient load in the grains and result in loss in quality. This study relates the physicochemical composition and morphological quality of brown and polished milled rice grains, cultivar types, and different levels of soil fertilization using near-infrared spectroscopy analysis, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Statistical tools were used to test the various treatments and identify the relationship between factors and variables. A high fertilization level is related to increasing crude protein composition and starch for cultivar IRGA 431 CL associated with polished rice. However, the combination of cultivar IRGA 424 RI and brown rice demonstrated a higher grain resistance, and different percentages of whole, chalky, and damaged rice. The correlation between ash × crude protein and starch × crude fiber was found to be positive for brown rice and negative for the polished rice. Further, an increase in starch content was inversely proportional to the ash content, whereas an increase in crude protein was inversely proportional to the low-fat content in milled rice. The crystalline characteristics of rice starch were preserved at high fertilization levels associated with polished grains that demonstrated high starch content. Polished grains, however, showed more pores and cavities, and consequently greater permeabilities in the surface. It is recommended that batches of grains produced from cultivar IRGA 431 CL with high levels of fertilization be subjected to polished rice milling to achieve high protein and starch quality. However, grains from cultivar IRGA 424 RI with high levels of fertilization are recommended for brown rice milling owing to the high percentage of physical defects observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]