The role of emotions and beliefs in developing language teacher\u27s professional identity

Many studies have investigated different positive and negative emotions that teachers experience in their work place, in addition to their teaching beliefs. However, none of these studies addressed the role of these emotions in formulating teaching beliefs and how both emotions and beliefs shape teacher’s professional identity; particularly in an Egyptian context. The current study addresses this gap. The participants are seven female experienced teachers who work in different private institutions, under different instructional settings. The study uses semi -structured interviews, narratives and focus group discussion as data collection tools. Lazarus psychological theory of emotions (1991) was used to analyze emotions. The beliefs analysis was guided by Borg (2001) and Goodman (1998) frame works and Gee (2001) levels of identity were found to reflect teacher’s professional identity. The results showed that teachers’ emotions affected their beliefs in relation to their students, their own teaching, the institution they work at and their colleagues. The results also implied that emotions and beliefs affected the development of those teachers’ professional identities in three main contexts; student-related, institution-related and their teacher self-related contexts. The study suggests some pedagogical implications if implemented in teachers’ education programs, would help them to develop sense of awareness of their weaknesses and strengths, reconsider their beliefs, whenever urging to do so, and hence the development of their professional identities

Brain Tumor Detection Using Artificial Neural Networks

In this study a functional models of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) is proposed to aid existing diagnosis methods. ANNs are currently a “hot” research area in medicine, particularly in the fields of radiology, cardiology, and oncology. In this paper an attempt was made to make use of ANNs in the medical field. Hence a Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) system using ANNs to classify brain tumors was developed in order to detect and classify the presence of brain tumors according to Magnetic Resonance (MR) Image, and then determined which type of ANNs and activation function for ANNs is the best for image recognition. Also the study aimed to introduce a practical application study for brain tumor diagnosis. Neural network must be able to determine the state of the brain according to MR image. In all procedures, image processing and ANNs design, MATLAB was incleded. From each MR Image a Harlick texture features was extracted to prepare training data which was introduced to neural network as input and target vectors. ANNs was designed using MATLAB tool "nntool". Results obtained explain Elman Network, with log sigmoid activation function, surpassing other ANNs with a performance ratio of 88.24%

Equilibrium modeling, kinetic and thermodynamic studies on the adsorption of basic dye by low-cost adsorbent

In this study, the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solutions using low-cost material as adsorbent by a batch system was investigated. Experiments were carried out as a function of contact time, initial concentration (50-300 mg/L), pH (2-12) and temperature (303-323K). The equilibrium adsorption of MB dye on petai (Parkia speciosa) seed adsorbent was analyzed by Langmuir and Freundlich models. The results indicate that the Freundlich model provides the best correlation of the experimental data. The adsorption capacities of the petai seed adsorbent for removal of MB dye was determined with the Langmuir equation and found to be 91.74, 94.34 and 100.03 mg/g at 303, 313, and 323 K, respectively. The kinetic data was found to follow closely the pseudo-second-order model. Various thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy (ΔH°), entropy (ΔS°) and free energy (ΔG°) were evaluated. The positive value of the enthalpy change (17.89 kJ/mol) indicates that the adsorption is endothermic process. The results indicate that petai seed adsorbent is suitable as adsorbent material for adsorption of MB dye from aqueous solutions

Eucalyptus

In Egypt, the River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) is a well-known tree and is highly appreciated by the rural and urban dwellers. The role of Eucalyptus trees in the ecology of Cryptococcus neoformans is documented worldwide. The aim of this survey was to show the prevalence of C. neoformans during the flowering season of E. camaldulensis at the Delta region in Egypt. Three hundred and eleven samples out of two hundred Eucalyptus trees, including leaves, flowers, and woody trunks, were collected from four governorates in the Delta region. Thirteen isolates of C. neoformans were recovered from Eucalyptus tree samples (4.2%). Molecular identification of C. neoformans was done by capsular gene specific primer CAP64 and serotype identification was done depending on LAC1 gene. This study represents an update on the ecology of C. neoformans associated with Eucalyptus tree in Egyptian environment

NARINGIN AND RUTIN PREVENT D-GALACTOSAMINE-INDUCED HEPATIC INJURY IN RATS VIA ATTENUATION OF THE INFLAMMATORY CASCADE AND OXIDATIVE STRESS

The dried stems and leaves of Citrus jambhiri Lush. (Rutaceae) were extracted with aqueous methanol and the extracts were fractionated using light petroleum, chloroform and ethyl acetate. Column chromatography of the ethyl acetate fractions resulted in the isolation of naringin, rutin, hesperidin, and neohesperidin. Their structures were identified by MS and different NMR techniques. Liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) of these fractions allowed the identification 7 flavonoid glycosides. Hepatoprotective properties of naringin and rutin were evaluated in d-galactosamine (d-GalN)-induced hepatic injury in rats. d-GalN increased serum aminotransferase activity, total bilirubin, liver tumor necrosis factor-α level (TNF-α), hepatic lipid peroxidation, nuclear factor κB and decreased hepatic glutathione content, IL-10 levels and the IL-10/TNF-α ratio. These changes were attenuated in rats pretreated with rutin and naringin (40 mg/kg body weight). They increased liver IL-10 levels and the IL-10/TNF-α ratio. Rutin but not naringin down-regulated NF-κB gene expression and decreased gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) activity

Constructional Design for Decontamination of Sputum Specimens for Tuberculosis Culture

This paper provides a proposal model for a medical device that can prepare samples for the purpose of  tuberculosis diagnosis using sputum specimens. Conventional methods contain hazards because of the seriousness of the disease and  persons infection probability in the laboratory as well as the time spended to prepare each sample individually. The proposed model has a robot arm operates in a completely closed environment  to prepare all samples at once, which reduces the total time of the process. All operations controlled by the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).

Textiles Printing Using Microencapsulated Pigments in Biodegradable Thickeners

Micro-encapsulated pigments were formulated into biodegradable printing pastes and their properties were analyzed. The pigment was used as the core material and polylactic-based biodegradable thickener was used as the wall-former. Cotton/polyester blend fabric was printed with micro-encapsulated pigment using screen-printing technique without dispersing agents, penetrating agents, leveling agents or other auxiliaries. Micro-encapsulated pigment has been characterized in terms of average particle size and size distribution, morphological structure and elemental composition using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The variations in viscosity and paste stability were observed upon storing over 7 days at ambient temperature. For permanence, the micro-encapsulation process afforded better colorfastness properties against light, washing, rubbing, and perspiration