Perceptions of Egyptian ESL teachers of teaching aspects of the target culture: The case of culturally-oriented speech acts in textbooks

The study explores issues related to the place of the target culture in the context of teaching English as a foreign/second language in Egypt. There are two research questions in this study. The first one is concerned with identifying the speech acts taught in the Hello! textbook studied by Egyptian students in all governmental and private schools of the third year of General Secondary Education. The second research question investigated the perceptions of governmental and private school teachers on teaching aspects of the target culture in their English classes in Egyptian schools. The research is of a quantitative/qualitative nature. A critical analysis of the speech acts activities from the Hello! textbook has been provided and it was found that only six units out of 18 in the Hello! textbook contain information on speech acts. These six speech acts are: giving advice, making and responding to suggestions, expressing wishes and regrets, offer to help, giving and responding to warnings, and persuading. Using a teacher questionnaire, data from 50 participants teaching at governmental and private schools in Egypt has been collected. This data was supplemented by interviews with three teachers from each type of school for a total of six teachers. The results reported from the questionnaire are in the form of statistics while those reported from the interviews are in the form of descriptive analysis. The results of the study show that the teaching of the target culture and pragmatics in ESL classes in Egypt is neglected due to many reasons, which include the lack of facilities and resources available to teachers, the use of a standardized high school exit exam which does not include questions on cultural aspects, and the resultant washback effect on teachers\u27 and students\u27 attitude toward the inutility of teaching cultural aspects

Anti-ficolin-2 Antibody: Could it be a Predictor of Proliferative Lupus Nephritis in Lupus Patients?

Background: Nephritis is a challenging domain of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). There is a growing need for identification of a non-invasive marker for diagnosing and monitoring nephritis.Objective: To explore the relevance of using anti-ficolin-2 antibody (Anti-FCN2) as a biomarker for detecting lupus nephritis (LN), and its relation to renal biopsy histopathology and disease activity.Patients and Methods: Sixty SLE patients were compared to 30 apparently healthy individuals. Thirty of the patients were LN patients (documented by a recent renal biopsy). Full history, examination and laboratory investigations were done. Activity was assessed by SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) score, and Anti-FCN2 titer was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique (ELISA).Results: Forty-four of our SLE patients were in disease activity by SLEDAI score. Anti-FCN2 titer was significantly higher among SLE patients compared to control group (p value <0.001). It was also higher among patients with high disease activity compared to those with low disease activity and cutoff value was at 37 ng/ml (p value is <0.001). AntiFCN2 titer was significantly higher among patients with LN compared to those without LN (p value is <0.001) with best cutoff value at 72.50 ng/ml. Regarding LN patients, it was significantly higher among patients with proliferative changes than LN patients with non-proliferative changes (p value is 0.05) with best cutoff value at 155 ng/ml.Conclusion: Anti-FCN2 shows promising results as a biomarker for lupus disease activity, especially regarding LN and proliferative changes. Further longitudinal studies on larger samples are needed to confirm

The Effectiveness of Teaching and Evaluating A written Expression Using A package of Modern Digital Applications in Developing the Written Expression Skills of Tenth-Grade Students

ملخص: هدفت الدراسة إلى التحقق من فاعلية تدريس التعبير الكتابي وتقويمه باستخدام حزمة من التطبيقات الرقمية الحديثة الداعمة لمنصة جوجل كلاس روم (Google Classroom) في تنمية مهارات التعبير الكتابي لدى طلبة الصف العاشر، وقد شمل مجتمع الدراسة جميع طلبة الصف العاشر الأساسي في المدارس الحكومية بسلطنة عمان خلال العام الدراسي 2020/2021، البالغ عددهم (49042) طالبًا وطالبةً موزعين على مدارس السلطنة؛ حيث تكونت العينة من (124) طالبًا وطالبةً ( 62 من الذكور و62 من الإناث)، اختيروا من  أربع (4) مدارس بطريقة قصدية (مدرستين للذكور ومدرستين للإناث)، واعتمدت الدراسة الحالية على المنهج التجريبي ذي التصميم شبه التجريبي ذي المجموعتين التجريبية والضابطة؛ إذ اتُّبعت في المجموعة التجريبية الاستراتيجية المقترحة لتدريس التعبير وتقويمه، وأما المجموعة الضابطة فقد سار تدريس وتقويم التعبير الكتابي فيها وفق الطريقة التقليدية. وتوصلت نتائج الدراسة إلى ارتفاع متوسط درجات المجموعة التجريبية مقارنة بمتوسط المجموعة الضابطة في التطبيق للاختبار البعدي لمهارات التعبير الكتابي في المهارات الرئيسة الثلاث (المضمون، واللغة والأسلوب، والشكل والتنظيم)، وأظهرت النتائج وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية عند مستوى(0.05≥α) بين متوسطي درجات المجموعتين التجريبية والضابطة في التطبيق للاختبار البعدي لمهارات التعبير الكتابي يعزى إلى طريقة التدريس. كما أوضحت نتائج الدراسة عدم وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين طلبة الصف العاشر الأساسي في مستوى كل من مهارتي المضمون واللغة والأسلوب تعزى إلى الجنس، كذلك أظهرت النتائج وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين طلبة الصف العاشر الأساسي في مستوى مهارة الشكل والتنظيم تعزى إلى الجنس ولصالح الإناث. وكشفت النتائج عن عدم وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين طلبة الصف العاشر الأساسي في مستوى مهارات التعبير الكتابي مجتمعة معا يعزى إلى التفاعل بين طريقة التدريس والجنس. وأوضحت نتائج تحليل التباين الثنائي وجود فرق ذي دلالة إحصائية بين طلبة الصف العاشر الأساسي في مستوى مهارات التعبير الكتابي مجتمعة يعزى إلى طريقة التدريس والجنس.Abstract: The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of teaching and evaluating written expression using a package of modern digital applications that support the Google Classroom platform to develop the writing skills of students in tenth grade.The study included all tenth-grade students in government schools in the Sultanate of Oman during the academic year 2020/2021, totaling 49,042 male and female students distributed among schools in the country. The sample consisted of 124 male and female students, 62 males and 62 females selected purposively from four schools (two schools for males and two for females). The current study followed the experimental method with a quasi-experimental design consisting of two experimental and control groups. The experimental group was taught and evaluated using the proposed strategy for teaching and evaluating written expression, while the control group was taught and evaluated using the traditional method. The results of the study showed a statistically significant increase in the average scores of the experimental group compared to the control group in the post-application test of the written expression skills in the three primary skills (content, language and style, and form and organization), and the results showed that there are statistically significant differences at the level of (0.05≥α) between the average scores of the experimental and control groups in the application of the post-test of written expression skills attributed to the teaching method. The results of the study also showed that there were no statistically significant differences between tenth grade students in the level of "content and language & style" skills attributed to gender, while the results showed that there were statistically significant differences among tenth grade students in the level of "form and organization" skill attributed to gender and in favor of females. Furthermore, the results revealed no statistically significant differences among tenth-grade students in the overall level of writing expression skills, attributed to the interaction between the teaching method and gender. However, the results of the Two-way analysis of variance indicated statistically significant differences in the performance of tenth-grade students in overall skills, attributed to both gender and teaching method

MyBot: Cloud-Based Service Robot using Service-Oriented Architecture

This paper is an extended version of the conference paper presented in IEEE International Conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions (ICARSC 2016).This paper presents a viable solution for the development of service robots by leveraging cloud and Web services technologies, modular software architecture design, and Robot Operating System (ROS). The contributions of this paper are two- folded (1) Design of ROS Web services to provide new abstract interfaces to service robots that makes easier the interaction with and the development of service robots applications, and (2) Integration of the service robot to the cloud using the ROSLink protocol. We demonstrate through real-world implementation on the MyBot robot the effectiveness of these software abstraction layers in developing applications for service robots through the Internet and the cloud, and in accessing them through Internet. We believe that this work represents an important step towards a more popular use of service robots.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Novel 1,5-diaryl pyrazole-3-carboxamides as selective COX-2/sEH inhibitors with analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and lower cardiotoxicity effects

Funding Information: The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at Jouf University for funding this work through research grant number (DSR2020-04-421 )Peer reviewedPostprin

Phage-Encoded Endolysins

Due to the global emergence of antibiotic resistance, there has been an increase in research surrounding endolysins as an alternative therapeutic. Endolysins are phage-encoded enzymes, utilized by mature phage virions to hydrolyze the cell wall from within. There is significant evidence that proves the ability of endolysins to degrade the peptidoglycan externally without the assistance of phage. Thus, their incorporation in therapeutic strategies has opened new options for therapeutic application against bacterial infections in the human and veterinary sectors, as well as within the agricultural and biotechnology sectors. While endolysins show promising results within the laboratory, it is important to document their resistance, safety, and immunogenicity for in-vivo application. This review aims to provide new insights into the synergy between endolysins and antibiotics, as well as the formulation of endolysins. Thus, it provides crucial information for clinical trials involving endolysins

Discovery of novel oxazole-based macrocycles as anti-coronaviral agents targeting SARS-CoV-2 main protease

Peer reviewedPostprin

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Phage-Encoded Endolysins

Due to the global emergence of antibiotic resistance, there has been an increase in research surrounding endolysins as an alternative therapeutic. Endolysins are phage-encoded enzymes, utilized by mature phage virions to hydrolyze the cell wall from within. There is significant evidence that proves the ability of endolysins to degrade the peptidoglycan externally without the assistance of phage. Thus, their incorporation in therapeutic strategies has opened new options for therapeutic application against bacterial infections in the human and veterinary sectors, as well as within the agricultural and biotechnology sectors. While endolysins show promising results within the laboratory, it is important to document their resistance, safety, and immunogenicity for in-vivo application. This review aims to provide new insights into the synergy between endolysins and antibiotics, as well as the formulation of endolysins. Thus, it provides crucial information for clinical trials involving endolysins