CRITICAL THINKING AS A 21st CENTURY SKILL: CONCEPTIONS, IMPLEMENTATION AND CHALLENGES IN THE EFL CLASSROOM

This qualitative research explores the conceptions, implementation and challenges of critical thinking in the FL classroom. 24 Libyan EFL university instructors participated in this study though completing an open-ended questionnaire sent via FB messenger. The content analysis applied to the participants’ answers revealed different conceptions and misconceptions of critical thinking. It also revealed that the majority of the participants implemented critical thinking in different aspects of their teaching. Some social, cultural and administrative barriers limited the effectiveness of this implementation. Nevertheless, the development of this kind of thinking for 21st century EFL learners is a necessity, not an option.  Article visualizations

Ultrasonic Techniques for Characterization of Oil-Water Emulsion and Monitoring of Interface in Separation Vessels

Emulsions created at different stages of crude oil production and processing present a number of problems and challenges. There is need to monitor emulsion layer in separation vessel to avoid its ingress into separated oil or water phases. It is also important to study role of different impurities and conditions on emulsion stability which determines the ease or difficulty on its breakup to separate the individual phases. There is also need to have a good understanding of emulsion rheology and effect of different variables on its flow behavior. There is currently a lack of suitable technique to monitor emulsion layer in separation vessels due to problems such as fouling, opacity and variable nature of crude oil composition and presence of impurities. The primary stage of this work, intended to develop an ultrasonic technique for on-line process monitoring to track and characterize emulsion phase generated during production and cleaning of crude oil. Ultrasonic based techniques have been explored to monitor interface position between water and emulsion layers and oil and emulsion layers in separation vessels. This study tested the potential of ultrasonic techniques for monitoring separation of water, oil and emulsion phases. The oil phase consisted of either mineral oil or crude oil and water content of their emulsion was between 20 to 40%. The tests were conducted in a 4-inch diameter and 20-inch tall column. Measurements of acoustic velocity, pulse attenuation were made with a 3.5 MHz frequency probe operating in through transmission mode. The presence of a phase a phase type at a probe location was easily and quickly identified by changes in either acoustic velocity, attenuation or their combination. In the emulsion layer, acoustic properties are observed to depend on droplet size and their concentration. A significant change in signal either from oil to emulsion or from water to emulsion was observed and demonstrated the potential of the technique for such operations. The second phase of this project, investigates potential of ultrasonic techniques to characterize water-in-oil emulsions using and compares with other methods. The emulsions were prepared with mineral oil and crude oil samples and the effects of different variables including mixing intensities, temperature, surfactant and fine solid particles concentrations have been observed. The emulsion mixtures prepared with samples of light and heavy crude oil investigated effects of asphaltenes concentration on emulsion stability. The emulsions were characterized for their stability, droplet size distribution and rheology. Emulsion droplet structure is observed with optical microscopy and stability is examined by separation of water phase with time and its composition changes were tracked by ultrasonic techniques. The ultrasonic parameters recorded are changes in acoustic velocity, signal attenuation and its frequency spectrum. The ultrasonic probe captured the variation of droplet concentration of dispersed water phase in the e mulsion with time. The final stage of this investigation, studies the rheological behavior of various emulsions in terms of providing a better understanding. This rheological study consists of several factors including mixing speed, shear rate, shear stress, temperature, pH, salt content; solid particle, addition of surfactants concentration, and droplet average diameter have been studied. It has been designed in order to provide an understanding of water-in-oil emulsion flow behavior and contribute to technological developments to oil production problems specific to this crude

An Investigation of Libyan EFL Teachers’ Conceptions of the Communicative Learner-Centred Approach in Relation to their Implementation of an English Language Curriculum Innovation in Secondary Schools

This phenomenographical investigation explores conceptions of the communicative learner-centred approach (CLCA) held by a sample of Libyan English foreign language teachers (EFL) in relation to their implementation of an English language curriculum innovation in secondary schools. A mixed approach employing quantitative (survey questionnaire) and qualitative (semi-structure interview) research methods was used for data collection during the first phase of this research. Martons’ (1981)phenomenographical approach was employed for analysing the qualitative data and the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) programme was used for analysing the quantitative data. Content analysis was used for analysing qualitative data gathered through an open-ended questionnaire completed by ten English language inspectors during the second phase of this research. Fourteen conceptions and misconceptions of the CLCA have been explored through this investigation. School location and place of graduation did not have significant effect on teachers’ conception of the principles and practices of the CLCA and the teachercentred approach (TCA). However, the less experienced teachers were more positive about those related to the TCA than were the experienced ones. Influential barriers related to individual, contextual and cultural considerations have been identified as responsible for limiting the success of the teachers’ attempts to implement this approach. Nevertheless, the majority of the participants (teachers and inspectors) were positive about the notion of implementing the CLCA for teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) in the Libyan context. However, the current conditions and realities in Libya seem to fit a weak version of this approach but not a strong one. i This study is significant because it adds to the literature new insights about EFL teachers’ conceptions and practices of the CLCA as a Western teaching methodology for TEFL in developing countries and challenges the argument of considering this approach inappropriate in these contexts. The findings of this study also have potential implications for school reform, curriculum design, EFL teacher education and training and for developing the role of language inspectors in Libya. These implications may be applied in similar contexts. Moreover, this study provides empirical evidence for the possibility of employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches in phenomenographical investigations

L-arginine pretreatment ameliorates Lipopolysaccharide-induced thyroid gland dysfunction in male albino rats

Bacterial infection is one of the most common causes of systemic inflammatory syndrome known as sepsis. Previous studies have been shown that sever sepsis was often complicated with secondary multiple organs dysfunction. This syndrome may greatly affect thyroid gland function leading to thyroid gland dysfunction. The objective of this study was to elucidate the effect of bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) on thyroid gland function. The study extended to investigate the role of L-arginine (L-Arg) as immunomodulator in LPS-induced systemic inflammation. Eighty adults, male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four equal groups: The control group was intraperitoneally (IP) injected with physiological sterile saline (0.9% NaCl at dose 1 ml/kg body weight (BW)); LPS-treated group was injected with a single dose of LPS (1 mg/kg BW, IP); L-Argtreated group was injected with L-Arg (10 mg/kg BW, IP) once per day for 7 consecutive days; and L-Arg + LPS treated group was injected with L-Arg (10 mg/kg BW, IP) once per day for 7 consecutive days followed by a single dose of LPS (1 mg/kg BW, IP). Histopathological changes of thyroid gland, serum triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine(T4), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were examined at 6, 12, 24 and 72 hours (h) after the last injection. Treatment of rats with a single dose of LPS alone resulted in thyroiditis which manifested by decreased serum T3 and T4 levels and severe necrosis of the thyroid follicles. However, in L-Arg-treated endotoxemic rats, pretreatment with L-Arg attenuated the LPS-induced acute thyroid gland injury

Examining high level neural representations of cluttered scenes

Humans and other primates can rapidly categorize objects even when they are embedded in complex visual scenes (Thorpe et al., 1996; Fabre-Thorpe et al., 1998). Studies by Serre et al., 2007 have shown that the ability of humans to detect animals in brief presentations of natural images decreases as the size of the target animal decreases and the amount of clutter increases, and additionally, that a feedforward computational model of the ventral visual system, originally developed to account for physiological properties of neurons, shows a similar pattern of performance. Motivated by these studies, we recorded single- and multi-unit neural spiking activity from macaque superior temporal sulcus (STS) and anterior inferior temporal cortex (AIT), as a monkey passively viewed images of natural scenes. The stimuli consisted of 600 images of animals in natural scenes, and 600 images of natural scenes without animals in them, captured at four different viewing distances, and were the same images used by Serre et al. to allow for a direct comparison between human psychophysics, computational models, and neural data. To analyze the data, we applied population "readout" techniques (Hung et al., 2005; Meyers et al., 2008) to decode from the neural activity whether an image contained an animal or not. The decoding results showed a similar pattern of degraded decoding performance with increasing clutter as was seen in the human psychophysics and computational model results. However, overall the decoding accuracies from the neural data lower were than that seen in the computational model, and the latencies of information in IT were long (~125ms) relative to behavioral measures obtained from primates in other studies. Additional tests also showed that the responses of the model units were not capturing several properties of the neural responses, and that detecting animals in cluttered scenes using simple model units based on V1 cells worked almost as well as using more complex model units that were designed to model the responses of IT neurons. While these results suggest AIT might not be the primary brain region involved in this form of rapid categorization, additional studies are needed before drawing strong conclusions

Reconocimiento y ejecución de resoluciones extranjeras en el Reglamento de Bruselas I bis

La libre circulación de sentencias se ha convertido en la quinta libertad de la Unión Europea a fin de establecer un espacio de libertad, seguridad y justicia sin fronteras interiores. Este trabajo estudia el sistema de reconocimiento y ejecución de resoluciones en el Reglamento 1215/2012 relativo a la competencia judicial, el reconocimiento y la ejecución de resoluciones judiciales en materia civil y mercantil, mejor conocido como RBI bis, aplicable desde el 10 de enero de 2012. Para ello, se han estudiado los antecedentes del Reglamento, el ámbito de aplicación, los distintos procedimientos para el reconocimiento y la ejecución, las causas de denegación, los efectos de ambas instituciones y los posibles recursos disponibles. Por último se hace una breve referencia sobre los posibles desarrollos futuros encaminados a la creación de una armonización de normas de conflicto o un código básico de Derecho Procesal Europeo

Regulation of CLC-Ka/barttin by the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4-2 and the serum- and glucocorticoid-dependent kinases

Regulation of ClC-Ka/barttin by the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4-2 and the serum- and glucocorticoid-dependent kinases.BackgroundClC-Ka and ClC-Kb, chloride channels participating in renal tubular Cl− transport, require the coexpression of barttin to become functional. Mutations of the barttin gene lead to the Bartter's syndrome variant BSND, characterized by congenital deafness and severe renal salt wasting. Barttin bears a proline-tyrosine motif, a target structure for the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4-2, which mediates the clearance of channel proteins from the cell membrane. Nedd4-2 is, in turn, a target of the serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase SGK1, which phosphorylates and, thus, inactivates the ubiquitin ligase. ClC-Ka also possesses a SGK1 consensus site in its sequence. We hypothesized that ClC-Ka/barttin is stimulated by SGK1, and down-regulated by Nedd4-2, an effect that may be reversed by SGK1 and its isoforms, SGK2 or SGK3.MethodsTo test this hypothesis, ClC-Ka/barttin was heterologously expressed in Xenopus oocytes with or without the additional expression of Nedd4-2, SGK1, SGK2, SGK3, constitutively active S422DSGK1, or inactive K127NSGK1.ResultsExpression of ClC-Ka/barttin induced a slightly inwardly rectifying current that was significantly decreased upon coexpression of Nedd4-2, but not the catalytically inactive mutant C938SNedd4-2. The coexpression of S422DSGK1, SGK1, or SGK3, but not SGK2 or K127NSGK1 significantly stimulated the current. Moreover, S422DSGK1, SGK1, and SGK3 also phosphorylated Nedd4-2 and thereby inhibited Nedd4-2 binding to its target. The down-regulation of ClC-Ka/barttin by Nedd4-2 was abolished by elimination of the PY motif in barttin.ConclusionClC-Ka/barttin channels are regulated by SGK1 and SGK3, which may thus participate in the regulation of transport in kidney and inner ear

Influence of 1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1, 25(OH)2D3] on the expression of Sox 9 and the transient receptor potential vanilloid 5/6 ion channels in equine articular chondrocytes

Background Sox 9 is a major marker of chondrocyte differentiation. When chondrocytes are cultured in vitro they progressively de-differentiate and this is associated with a decline in Sox 9 expression. The active form of vitamin D, 1, 25 (OH)2D3 has been shown to be protective of cartilage in both humans and animals. In this study equine articular chondrocytes were grown in culture and the effects of 1, 25 (OH)2D3 upon Sox 9 expression examined. The expression of the transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) ion channels 5 and 6 in equine chondrocytes in vitro, we have previously shown, is inversely correlated with de-differentiation. The expression of these channels in response to 1, 25 (OH)2D3 administration was therefore also examined. Results The active form of vitamin D (1, 25 (OH)2D3) when administered to cultured equine chondrocytes at two different concentrations significantly increased the expression of Sox 9 at both. In contrast 1, 25 (OH)2D3 had no significant effect upon the expression of either TRPV 5 or 6 at either the protein or the mRNA level. Conclusions The increased expression of Sox 9, in equine articular chondrocytes in vitro, in response to the active form of vitamin D suggests that this compound could be utilized to inhibit the progressive de-differentiation that is normally observed in these cells. It is also supportive of previous studies indicating that 1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 can have a protective effect upon cartilage in animals in vivo. The previously observed correlation between the degree of differentiation and the expression levels of TRPV 5/6 had suggested that these ion channels may have a direct involvement in, or be modulated by, the differentiation process in vitro. The data in the present study do not support this

Distribution of glucocorticoid receptors and 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase isoforms in the rat inner ear.

11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD) is an enzyme complex responsible for the conversion of hormonally active cortisol to inactive cortisone, and two isoforms of the enzyme (11β-HSD1 and 11β-HSD2) have been cloned and characterized. An immunohistochemical study was performed to determine the precise distribution of glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) and the isoforms of 11β-HSD in the rat (postnatal day 1, 4, 10, and adult). Immunoreactivity of GRs was detected in the stria vascularis (SV), the outer hair cells (OHCs), the inner hair cells (IHCs), the spiral ligament (SLig), the spiral limbus (SLib), the spiral ganglion cells (SGCs), Reissner\u27s membrane (RM), the cochlear nerve (CN), the vestibular hair cells (VHCs), the dark cells (DCs), and the vestibular nerve (VN) in the rats. Immunostaining of 11β-HSD1 was observed in almost all the tissues in the cochlea and the vestibule except SLig, SLib, SGCs, CN, VHCs, and VN during all developmental stages, whereas, immunoreactivity of 11β-HSD2 was not detected in any of the inner ear tissues. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) study was also performed on GRs, 11β-HSD1, and 11β-HSD2 in the OC, SV and vestibule of the postnatal rats, and revealed that mRNAs were detected in all those and tissues in all the developmental days of postnatal days 1, 4, and 10. This data indicates that expression of GRs and 11β-HSD isoforms in the inner ear is tissue and age-specific, and that different local steroid regulation by GRs and the isoforms of 11β-HSD is present in each part of the inner ear

Some Libya EFL University Students’ Attitudes towards Using Authentic Materials for Reading Classes Abstract This study investigates the attitudes of 100 Libyan English foreign language (EFL) university students towards using authentic materials in the l

This study investigates the attitudes of 100 Libyan English foreign language (EFL) university students towards using authentic materials in the language classroom. The quantitative data of this study was collected through close-ended questionnaire. The majority of the students believed that exposing foreign language (FL) learners to authentic materials has a positive impact on developing their reading skills and on enhancing their awareness about the culture of the target language. However, they emphasize the importance of introducing these materials in small portions and the need for promoting teachers’ and students’ motivation and interest in these materialsDespite the challenges and the difficulties that may impede the process of introducing authentic material in the FL classroom, it represents a valuable and useful resource for teachers to use in order to motivate students and develop their language proficiency