Scoring academic writing from subjectivity to objectivity: A scale for evaluating students' written product

Due to the drawbacks of adopting any of the common scoring scales independently and in order to make the scoring process less subjective and more objective, the researcher thought of developing a rubric for evaluating students' written product. Some of the well-known scoring scales are time consuming, others mainly depend on the scorer's impression which is not always accurate. The researcher here made a hybrid of both the holistic and analytic scoring scales and developed it to suit academic writing. The rubric was refereed by a group of specialists who assured its validity. Content validity and internal consistency were also calculated. To test the suitability of this scoring rubric for the purpose it was designed for, a stratified random sample of 30 essays was selected from a corpus of N=120 essays written by Palestinian tertiary level students majoring in English in the academic year 2009/ 2010. Pearson correlation and Alpha scale were used in order to assure the reliability of the scale. The Scoring scale follows a taxonomy in which errors experienced in the subjects' writings are divided into three major categories: errors related to conventions, content development and style. Each category includes a number of subcategories; for instance, conventions include writing mechanics and grammar and vocabulary common errors; each of which is scored out of 25. In addition, content development includes cohesion and coherence, which are scored out of 20 marks and 15 marks respectively and finally style and cogency are marked out of 15 marks only

The Efficacy of Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) on patients with Major Depressive Disorder in Gaza Strip

This study examined the effectiveness of psycho education program based on Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) for facilitating recovery in patients with Major Depressive Disorder in Gaza Strip. Patients with Major Depressive Disorder include those who have a severe and/or persistent Major depression disorder that seriously impairs their functioning relative to such primary aspects of daily living as personal relations, living arrangements, or employment. Materials and Methods Pre post design was used in this study and the researcher select two groups. Each group includes four participants (2 male and 2 female), The two groups were matched with age, gender, degree of depression, and area of living, for each participants we assessed the degree of depression using the depression Peck scales before and after using intervention program ( new and routine methods). The result shows the mean, stander deviation and stander error mean, the pretest mean for the experimental group symptoms of depression was 36.25, and stander deviation was 1.70783 While the mean for posttest experimental group symptoms of depression was 21.25, and stander deviation was .95743, this represent that the severity of symptom was decreased significantly after intervention using WRAP.This study examined the effectiveness of psycho education program based on Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) for facilitating recovery in patients with Major Depressive Disorder in Gaza Strip. Patients with Major Depressive Disorder include those who have a severe and/or persistent Major depression disorder that seriously impairs their functioning relative to such primary aspects of daily living as personal relations, living arrangements, or employment. Materials and Methods Pre post design was used in this study and the researcher select two groups. Each group includes four participants (2 male and 2 female), The two groups were matched with age, gender, degree of depression, and area of living, for each participants we assessed the degree of depression using the depression Peck scales before and after using intervention program ( new and routine methods). The result shows the mean, stander deviation and stander error mean, the pretest mean for the experimental group symptoms of depression was 36.25, and stander deviation was 1.70783 While the mean for posttest experimental group symptoms of depression was 21.25, and stander deviation was .95743, this represent that the severity of symptom was decreased significantly after intervention using WRAP

Perceptions of Schoolteachers’ Involvement in Educational Decision-Making in the State of Qatar

The purpose of this study is to examine the perspectives of selected high school administrators and schoolteachers regarding the extent to which schoolteachers should be involved in making educational decisions in light of the recent educational reform initiatives in the State of Qatar. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews that centered on schools’ developmental and implemental decisions related to educational goals and policies, curriculum and instruction, schools’ administrative policies for teachers, and for students. Participants included 182 school administrators and 480 schoolteachers who completed the 40-item questionnaire while five school administrators and five schoolteachers participated in the interviews. Findings demonstrate that school administrators were more enthusiastic than schoolteachers about schoolteachers’ involvement in making decisions related to school’s educational goals and policies. School administrators and schoolteachers recorded some similar responses regarding schoolteachers’ involvement in decision-making in the area of curriculum and administrative policies for students but there were differences between schoolteachers and administrators in several areas related to administrative policies for teachers. Findings also indicate differences between the perspectives of male and female school administrators, male and female schoolteachers, and the citizen and expatriate schoolteachers. A number of recommendations are made that highlight the importance of considering schoolteachers’ involvement in any educational reform attempting to improve the decision-making process and the educational system

INTEGRATION OF ICT IN EFL/ESL TEACHERS' TRAINING AND SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS AS PERCEIVED BY THE TRAINERS

Purpose of Study: The current study aimed at revealing the integration of information and communications technology (ICT) in EFL/ESL teachers' training and self-efficacy beliefs as perceived by trainers. A group of (64) trainers from different countries (Palestine, UK, USA, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq) completed the two instruments of the study. Methodology: The first instrument was a survey of the actuality of ICT integration in the training; it comprises (47) items distributed into nine domains, i.e.  PowerPoint, Facebook, Wiki, YouTube, Blogs, Email, Google, Mobile, and Platform\E-course. The second instrument was a self-efficacy scale which consists of (14) items. The results of trainers' responses revealed that Emails, Mobile, and Google are often used with relative weights (%78.59, %68.13, and %68.02) respectively, whereas Wikis were never used i.e. relative weight (%28.96). The differences in integrating ICTs between male and female trainers were statistically insignificant. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences due to the respondents' period of experience. Results: The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the respondents' integration of ICT due to country of origin. The trainers' self-efficacy wobbles between 66.88 and 58.13 with a total of 61.70, which is moderate. Based on the study findings, the researchers recommend arousing trainers and trainees' awareness regarding integrating more ICTs in their training courses and encouraging them to try the different ICTs which make it easier for trainees to grasp the training material

Palestinian University Writing Professors' Feedback Practices and their Students' Reactions towards them

The purpose of the current study is to identify feedback practices Palestinian university professors frequently use and the extent to which they are aware of the soundness or unsoundness of these practices. The study also investigates Palestinian university students' reactions towards their teachers' feedback practices. For this purpose the researchers prepared two questionnaires to gather the data; the first addresses teachers' use of feedback practices and their soundness or unsoundness and the other is assigned to collect information from students on the frequency of their teachers use of feedback practices and if they like or dislike them. Two different samples, i.e. 26 university professors and 310 English majoring students from different universities in Palestine are included. The results of the study showed that Palestinian university writing professors are aware of the educational soundness and unsoundness of the majority of feedback practices and use sound ones quite often. Their students mostly agreed with their teachers' responses; however some discrepancies occurred between teachers' responses and their students' reactions towards certain practices. Moreover, students indicated their liking of most of their teachers' practices, particularly the sound ones. Surprisingly, students sometimes showed their liking of certain unsound practices. Regarding students gender role in the students' preference or approval of teachers' feedback practices, a number of differences existed, particularly in nine items; five items were in favor of males and the other four items were in favor of female students

Possible intrusive food interaction with oral dabigatran’s anticoagulant activity in a rat models

Purpose: To evaluate the synergistic or antagonistic interaction between oral dabigitran etexilate (Pradaxa) and some foods.Methods: Aqueous extracts of sweet orange, cabbage, ginger, green tea, garlic and pineapple were prepared and lyophilized, and total phenolic acids and flavonoid contents evaluated. The residues of the aqueous extracts were given daily to the rats (500 mg/kg dose, oral) 1 h after administration of dabigatran (1.83 mg/kg dose) for 14 days. Bleeding time, International Normalized Ratio (INR), prothrombin time (PT) as well as alanine  aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in blood were measured.Results: Oral administration of Pradaxa with all the test food (except  cabbage) significantly increased bleeding time, INR and PT. Pradaxa  interaction with cabbage significantly decreased bleeding tendencies but the drug did not produce any major elevation of liver enzyme levels (ALT, AST and ALP). Conversely, significant elevation in ALP level was observed only after aqueous extract of ginger was administered with Pradaxa. Green tea and garlic significantly increased ALT and AST levels.Conclusion: Synergistic interaction occurrs between dabigatran etexilate with the selected foods, but interaction with cabbage antagonistic.Keywords: Dabigatran etexilate, Anticoagulant, Foods, Liver enzymes, International Normalized Ratio, Prothrombin tim

Systematic Analysis of Artificial Intelligence-Based Platforms for Identifying Governance and Access Control

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become omnipotent with its variety of applications and advantages. Considering the other side of the coin, the eruption of technology has created situations that need more caution about the safety and security of data and systems at all levels. Thus, to hedge against the growing threats of cybersecurity, the need for a robust AI platform supported by machine learning and other supportive technologies is well recognized by organizations. AI is a much sought-after topic, and there is extolling literature available in repositories. Hence, a systematic arrangement of the literature that can help identify the right AI platform that can provide identity governance and access control is the need of the hour. Having this background, the present study is commissioned a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to accomplish the necessity. Literature related to AI and Identity and Access Management (IAM) is collected from renowned peer-reviewed digital libraries for systematic analysis and assessment purposes using the systematic review guidelines. Thus, the final list of articles relevant to the framed research questions related to the study topic is fetched and is reviewed thoroughly. For the proposed systematic research work, the literature reported during the period ranging from 2016 to 2021 (a portion of 2021 is included) is analyzed and a total of 43 papers were depicted more relevant to the selected research domain. These articles were accumulated from ProQuest, Scopus, Taylor & Franics, Science Direct, and Wiley online repositories. The article's contribution can supplement the AI-based IAM information and steer the entities of diverse sectors concerning seamless implementation. Appropriate suggestions are proposed to encourage research work in the required fields.This work was supported by Qatar University (Internal Grant no. IRCC-2021-010)

Gold nanoparticles electrodeposited on glassy carbon using cyclic voltammetry: Application to Hg(II) trace analysis

The electrochemical determination of Hg(II) at trace level using gold nanoparticles–modified glassy carbon (AuNPs–GC) electrodes is described. Starting from HAuCl4 in NaNO3, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were deposited onto Glassy Carbon (GC) electrodes using Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). Different deposits were obtained by varying the global charge consumed during the whole electroreduction step, depending on the number of cyclic potential scans (N). AuNPs were characterized as a function of the charge using both CV in H2SO4 and Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscopy (FEG-SEM). The AuNPs–GC electrodes were then applied to determine low Hg(II) concentrations using Square Wave Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (SWASV). The AuNPs–GC electrodes provided significantly improved performances in Hg(II) determination compared to unmodified GC and bare Au electrodes. It was shown that the physico-chemical properties of the deposits are correlated to the performances of the AuNPs–GC electrode with respect to Hg(II) assay. The best results were obtained for four electrodeposition cyclic scans, where small-sized particles (36 ± 13 nm) with high density (73 particles μm-²) were obtained. Under these conditions, a linearity range from 0.64 to 4.00 nM and a limit of detection of 0.42 nM were obtained

Systematic Analysis of Safety and Security Risks in Smart Homes

The revolution in Internet of Things (IoT)-based devices and applications has provided smart applications for humans. These applications range from healthcare to traffic-flow management, to communication devices, to smart security devices, and many others. In particular, government and private organizations are showing significant interest in IoT-enabled applications for smart homes. Despite the perceived benefits and interest, human safety is also a key concern. This research is aimed at systematically analyzing the available literature on smart homes and identifying areas of concern or risk with a view to supporting the design of safe and secure smart homes. For this systematic review process, relevant work in the most highly regarded journals published in the period 2016-2020 (a section of 2020 is included)was analyzed. A final set of 99 relevant articles (journal articles, book sections, conference papers, and survey papers) was analyzed in this study. This analysis is focused on three research questions and relevant keywords. The systematic analysis results and key insights will help researchers and practitioners to make more informed decisions when dealing with the safety and security risks of smart homes, especially in emergency situations.This publication was supported by Qatar University Internal Grant No. IRCC-2020-009