Teaching strategy for Arabic language teaching of 11 to 16-year-olds at Al- Iman School located in North West London, England, UK

The purpose of this research is to explain how and why there is no suitable standard programme to fulfill the comprehensive needs of migrant Iraqi and second generation British-Iraqi 11-16-year olds wishing to learn Arabic in community based, supplementary Saturday schools in London. The ultimate aims of this study are to produce a remodeled curriculum, based on modern standard Arabic (MSA) teaching texts, for the purpose of raising the success rate of passes in Arabic GCSE exams for what is considered to be low achievers. The remodeled curriculum will achieve this through engendering pride and passion in both teachers and pupils for the cultural heritage and Islamic identity associated with learning Arabic. I chose Al-Iman Saturday School in North West London (a member of the National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education (NRCSE); as a typical community Saturday school, a registered charity, still using substantially outmoded syllabi, a narrow curriculum and teaching practices that are not consonant with Iraqi children’s aspirations and mixed-cultural sensibilities. With the exception of the final GCSE year group, who are taught the Edexcel Arabic curriculum, all other age groups are taught Arabic using textbooks introduced directly from Iraq. The school does not rely on a nationally recognised curriculum nor on standardised Arabic texts with which to teach 11-16-year-old students. For the purposes of Al-Iman school, the research undertaken was mainly qualitative as opposed to quantitative. From this research, a new methodology was designed for classroom teachers based on examining the current weaknesses and strengths of teaching practices through interviews, classroom observation and questionnaires of a sample of 13 teachers at the Al-Iman school. Most of the student population at Al-Iman school are second generation Iraqi native speakers born and raised in the UK. For the purposes of this study, Arabic Learners are defined as students with limited Arabic speaking ability

The Emergence of Klebsiella pneumoniae Endogenous Endophthalmitis in the USA: Basic and Clinical Advances

Endogenous endophthalmitis (EE) is a rare but devastating infection that occurs secondary to seeding of the intraocular cavity from an extraocular focus. Recent reports suggest the increasing prevalence and incidence of Klebsiella pneumoniae as a causative organism in Asian countries. Analysis of the largest cohorts published to date suggests that K. pneumoniae endogenous endophthalmitis (KPEE) is 10 to 15 times more prevalent than other causes of EE. The incidence of KPEE among patients with systemic Klebsiella infection appears to be >100-fold more common than other causes of EE. The exact reason for these observations is not clear, but a number of studies now suggest that Klebsiella serotypes K1 and K2 have virulence factors that enhance their survival in diabetic patients and increase their pathogenicity. Here, we report two cases of KPEE in the USA. We also review the recent clinical and basic science literature on the prevalence, incidence, and pathophysiology of this emerging and devastating infection

Potential for cogeneration of heat and electricity in California industry, phase 2

The nontechnical issues of industrial cogeneration for 12 California firms were analyzed under three categories of institutional settings: (1) industrial ownership without firm sales of power; (2) industrial ownership with firm sales of power; and (3) utility or third party ownership. Institutional issues were analyzed from the independent viewpoints of the primary parties of interest: the industrial firms, the electric utilities and the California Public utilities Commission. Air quality regulations and the agencies responsible for their promulgation were examined, and a life cycle costing model was used to evaluate the economic merits of representative conceptual cogeneration systems at these sites. Specific recommendations were made for mitigating measures and regulatory action relevant to industrial cogeneration in California

Comparison of Three Intelligent Techniques for Runoff Simulation

In this study, performance of a feedback neural network, Elman, is evaluated for runoff simulation. The model ability is compared with two other intelligent models namely, standalone feedforward Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) neural network model and hybrid Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) model. In this case, daily runoff data during monsoon period in a catchment located at south India were collected. Three statistical criteria, correlation coefficient, coefficient of efficiency and the difference of slope of a best-fit line from observed-estimated scatter plots to 1:1 line, were applied for comparing the performances of the models. The results showed that ANFIS technique provided significant improvement as compared to Elman and MLP models. ANFIS could be an efficient alternative to artificial neural networks, a computationally intensive method, for runoff predictions providing at least comparable accuracy. Comparing two neural networks indicated that, unexpectedly, Elman technique has high ability than MLP, which is a powerful model in simulation of hydrological processes, in runoff modeling

Prevention of acute ammonia toxicity in beluga, Huso huso, using natural zeolite

This study was accomplished to examine the efficiency of natural zeolite in preventing acute toxicity of total ammonia to Huso huso. The study was performed using Water Static Method in 96 hours. Fish averaged 46 ± 5 g in weight and 22 ± 4 cm in total length were exposed to four different concentrations (15, 30, 50, 75 mgL-1) of ammonia and a group was considered as control. Under stable condition, the lethal concentration of ionized ammonia was 75 mgL-1 in 96 hours. In the lethal concentration of total ammonia, different amounts of 5, 10, 15 g.L-1 granulated clinoptilolite zeolite were used. Results indicated significant differences between treatments and control (p<0.05). By increasing Clinoptilolite zeolite in each treatment, the survival rate of fish also increased significantly (p<0.05). In lethal concentration of ammonia, the use of 15 g.L-1 zeolite could prevent the mortality rate. Histopathological findings showed that major lesions in gill filaments included hemorrhage, hyperemia, hyperplasia, epithelial cells necrosis. There were hemorrhage, hyperemia, degenerated tubules of kidney, expansion of Bowman's capsule in kidney and hepatocytes necrosis in liver

Prevention of Acoustic Trauma-Induced Hearing Loss by N-acetylcysteine Administration in Rabbits

Background: Acoustic trauma is an injury to the hearing mechanisms in the inner ear due to excessive noise. This injury is the most prevalent cause of sensorineural hearing loss in humans, especially from occupational exposure. Previous studies have shown the essential role of free radical formation in the inner ear hearing loss caused by acoustic trauma. Objectives: This study was performed to determine the effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) administration for reducing acute acoustic trauma in rabbits. Materials and Methods: Twenty four rabbits were assigned to four groups including: control, noise plus saline, noise plus NAC administration (325 mg/kg body weight by intraperitoneal injection (IP), three days before exposure to noise and three days after noise exposure), and NAC alone. Auditory brain stem response (ABR) threshold was measured before exposure and one hour and 14 days after exposure. Results: The saline plus noise group had on average a 49 decibel (dB) temporary threshold shift (TTS) and 23.9 dB permanent threshold shift (PTS) at the studied frequencies, while rabbits in the NAC administration plus noise group had a 31.5 dB TTS and 10.7 dB PTS averaged across the frequencies. Conclusions: Administration of NAC can provide appropriate protection against acoustic trauma-induced hearing loss in rabbits at all studied frequencies

Association of 25-hydroxy vitamin D with asthma and its severity in children: A case-control study

Background: Universally, asthma has high prevalence rates and this has led numerous studies done into its causes. Despite extensive study on asthma the association between 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D (25(OH) vit. D) and asthma remains uncertain. In this study, the associations of 25(OH) vit. D levels with asthma and with the severity of asthma were evaluated. Methods: This was a case-control study performed in 2015 in the city of Isfahan. In this study 520 children were studied. Children with asthma were classified as cases and children who were referred for reasons other than respiratory problems and asthma were considered as controls. Serum 25 (OH) vit. D levels were then examined and compared between the two groups. Differences among groups were stated to be statistically significant when P-values < 0.05. Results: There were 260 asthmatic children and 260 controls in the present study. The mean 25 (OH) vit. D levels in the case group was 25.5 ± 16.62 and 16.76 ± 31.40 the control group and this difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). 25(OH) vit. D levels were found to be 28.05 ± 16.98 in non-severe asthma and 21.41 ± 15.20 in severe asthma. Consequently 25(OH) vit. D level had inverse relationship with asthma severity (P = 0.002). Conclusions: As the results of this study showed, the lower level of 25(OH) vit. D correlated with the higher severity of asthma manifestations. Therefore, it is recommended that 25(OH) vit. D levels get routinely checked especially in severe asthma cases and if the deficiency presents, appropriate therapeutic measures be used to reduce the asthma severity. © 2020 The Author(s)

Hyperhomocysteinemia and increased risk of coronary artery disease in Iranian patients with diabetes mellitus type II: a cross-sectional study

Hyperhomocysteinemia in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) has been proposed as a new risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). Due to the prevalence of DM and CAD in the Iranian population and the relatively high economic burden, research on these new risk factors sounds necessary. This study investigated the relationship between hyperhomocysteinemia and coronary heart disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. This study was a hospital-based cross-sectional study performed on 100 diabetic patients with indications of coronary artery angiography. After the measurement of serum HbA1c and homocysteine, the patients went through coronary angiography and, based on the results, were divided into two groups of normal and obstructed coronary arteries. Serum homocysteine and other related risk factors were further compared between the two groups. The mean serum homocysteine of patients was 13.18 ± 3.64 μmol/L in general and 15.02 ± 3.7 μmol/L in those with coronary artery obstruction. With hyperhomocysteinemia defined as serum homocysteine of � 14 μmol/L, 48 of diabetic patients had hyperhomocysteinemia, of which 83 had coronary artery obstruction. The relationship between serum homocysteine and coronary artery obstruction was significant (P < 0.001). The serum homocysteine was the highest in patients with three-vessel involvement (15.39 ± 3.5 μmol/L), which was significantly higher than those with normal coronary arteries (P < 0.001). The mean serum homocysteine of diabetic patients (type II) with coronary artery disease was significantly higher than those with normal coronary arteries. It was also significantly higher in patients with three-vessel involvement than those with no vessel involvement. © 2019, Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature