Service-Learning in Egypt: Effects of Demographics, Course Features, and Community Engagement on Civic and Developmental Outcomes for University Students

Although service-learning is spreading in various geographic locations across the globe, the majority of extant literature is based in the U.S. Additionally, past research focused largely on investigating student outcomes through this pedagogy with little attention to exploring the impact of variations among service-learning courses and students. This study addressed these gaps by examining how individual differences among students, course characteristics, and overall community engagement may relate to civic and developmental outcomes for college students through service-learning. Sixty one students at a private university in Egypt completed survey questionnaires. Students’ Demographics and Course Characteristics Composites predicted students’ reports of enhanced community awareness. The Overall Community Engagement Composite contributed to students’ reported outcomes of both enhanced community awareness and interpersonal effectiveness skills. The study suggests lines of research for scholars committed to advancing rigorous engaged scholarship and discusses implications for practitioners seeking to deepen service-learning outcomes

Study of Theories of Personality and Learning Styles; some Implications and Sample Activities to Support Curriculum Change in a Higher Education TESOL Program in Syria

This dissertation studies theories of personality and learning styles and introduces sample communicative activities to support the change in the Syrian curriculum. Chapter one gives an idea of the present TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) situation in Syria highlighting the increasing need for change which was a consequence of using direct method as the only teaching method. It clarifies why we, in Syria, need to look for new methods of teaching that would result in better learning environment. As a step towards achieving the change, this dissertation looks closely at theories of personality and learning styles because they are relevant to teaching and learning process. Chapter two looks at theories of personality and focuses specifically on those which have close relation to English language learning. Chapter three lists learning styles with their definitions and looks in more detail at styles that have clear relation to the learning process. In chapter four, examples of communicative activities are suggested. These activities aim to unlock learners’ awareness of themselves and to give teachers, in Syria, an opportunity to collect data about prevalent personality traits and preferred learning styles among learners. An act ion research, that involves English teachers and learners in Syria, is suggested in chapter five to achieve the aim. Finally, a number of problems that might be faced are identified and some recommendations are given for overcoming them

Swept-source optical coherence tomography changes and visual acuity among Palestinian retinitis Pigmentosa patients: a cross-sectional study

Background: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a heterogeneous group of inherited ocular diseases that result in progressive retinal degeneration. This study aims to describe different Swept-source Optical Coherence Tomographic (SS-OCT) changes in Palestinian RP patients and to explore possible correlations with Visual Acuity (VA). Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on Retinitis Pigmentosa patients diagnosed with RP in a tertiary eye hospital. Full history and ocular examination were made. SS-OCT imaging was done for all eyes assessing the presence of cystoid macular edema, epiretinal membrane, macular holes, and external limiting membrane, ellipsoid zone status. Also, central macular thickness and choroidal vascular thickness were measured. // Results: The study was run on 161 eyes of 81 patients; 53 males and 28 females. The average age at examination was 26.1 (6–78) years. Twenty-six eyes (16.1%) were of syndromic RP patients, mostly Usher syndrome; 20 eyes (12.4%). The mean Logaritmic minimal angle of resolution (LogMAR) of Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA)of the study sample was 0.66 ± 0.7. The most prevalent change was cystoid macular edema [28 eyes, (17.4%)], followed by epiretinal membrane [17eye, (10.6%)]. A macular hole was noted only in one eye (0.6%). Ellipsoid zone and external limiting membrane were absent in 55 eyes (35.0%) and 60 eyes 37.5%. Vitreous hyperreflective foci were found in 35 eyes (43.8%). LogMAR of BCVA was associated significantly with cystoid macular edema (p = 0.001), ellipsoid zone(p = 0.001), and external limiting membrane (p = 0.001). // Conclusions: Detailed SS-OCT assessment in Palestinian patients diagnosed with RP identified different morphologies from other populations. Cystoid macular edema and vitreous hyperreflective foci may reflect signs of early or intermediate stages of the disease. Disease progression can be monitored by measuring the length/width (area) of ellipsoid zone +/− external limiting membrane and choroidal vascular thickness, which should be evaluated serially using high-resolution OCT

A Combined Bibliometric Analysis on the Data Collection and Reporting Systems for Sustainability Assessment in Higher Education

Sustainability in Higher Education (SHE) has been tagged as an emerging topic of concern among the research community and higher education institutions over the past decade. This paper aims to investigate the existing body of knowledge related to the SHE assessment tools, methods, data collection sources, reporting systems, methods used for rating and categories of broadening indicators using a combined bibliometric and exhaustive thematic investigations. This paper also aims at investigating the intellectual structure in the SHE field of knowledge using journal co-citation analysis, author co-citation analysis, and bibliographic coupling with the software VOSviewer. This study provides the research community with a comprehensive platform for expanding future research, highlighting the intellectual structure in the SHE assessment and implementation

Controlling of Mycobacterium by Natural Degradant-Combination Models for Sequestering Mycolic Acids in Karish Cheese

Degradation of the mycobacterial complex containing mycolic acids (MAs) by natural bioactive compounds is essential for producing safe and value-added foods with therapeutic activities. This study aimed to determine the degradation efficiency of natural organic acid extracts (i.e., citric, malic, tartaric, and lactic), quadri-mix extract from fruits and probiotics (i.e., lemon, apple, grape, and cell-free supernatant of Lactobacillus acidophilus), and synthetic pure organic acids (i.e., citric, malic, tartaric, and lactic), against MA in vitro in phosphate buffer solution (PBS) and Karish cheese models. The degradation effect was evaluated both individually and in combinations at different concentrations of degradants (1, 1.5, and 2%) and at various time intervals (0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h). The results show that MA degradation percentage recorded its highest value at 2% of mixed fruit extract quadri-mix with L. acidophilus and reached 99.2% after 48 h both in PBS and Karish cheese, unlike other treatments (i.e., citric + malic + tartaric + lactic), individual acids, and sole extracts at all concentrations. Conversely, organic acid quadri-mix revealed the greatest MA degradation% of 95.9, 96.8, and 97.3% at 1, 1.5, and 2%, respectively, after 48 h. Citric acid was more effective in MA degradation than other acids. The fruit extract quadri-mix combined with L. acidophilus-fortified Karish cheese showed the highest sensorial characteristics; hence, it can be considered a novel food-grade degradant for MA and could be a promising biocontrol candidate against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in food matrices

Resistance to Change: Hephzibah and Clifford in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables as Two Case Studies

It is argued that change is a necessity, that it’s connected with time, that it is either for the better or the worse, and that some people of whom Hepzibah and Clifford in Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables are ones who sometimes resist change for certain reasons. The discussion demonstrates that Hepzibah and Clifford resist change in defi ance of time and reality. They both imprison themselves in the past and refuse to live in the real world. This refusal to change occurs due to identity-related reasons, the loss of certain interests, fear of the unknown, the threat to their security and survival, and its being imposed upon them. This paper shows that change is a fact of life and that it occurs daily in subtle ways whether we like it or not. In line with this contention, people should cope with it, and come to terms with the past and the present whose disregard is a sign of folly.Key Words : Resistance ; Reluctance ; Necessity ; Imprison ; Reality ; Imposed ; Collaps

Effect of Additives on the Performance of the Fire-Clay Refractory Bricks

This work studied the effect of additive materials – ceramic powder, bentonite, and clay-on the performance of fire-clay refractory bricks. The results showed that as the percentage of ceramic powder, clay, or bentonite increased up to 1.5%, shrinkage of the bricks decreased and density of the bricks increased while porosity and water absorption decreased and compressive strength increased

Laptop Riser, a Useful PBL Project for Diploma Students in Engineering Design

A useful project is identified for the semester-four diploma students in their final workshop of mechanical engineering program in the school of engineering at Australian college of Kuwait (ACK). ACK is putting significant emphasis in project based learning (PBL) and is developing new courses for both diploma and degree programs according to PBL style. In the final workshop project, it is required that the students design and manufacture a foldable laptop riser during fourteen weeks of their works. This project uses welding, cutting, drilling, and bending processes. It is expected that the deliverable product of this workshop is to be used in offices of ACK faculties and staff to raise the laptop height to provide an ergonomic and healthy office use. Students gain experiences in developing their own ideas, acquainted with preliminary design calculations, make sketches and drawings, build their laptop risers, and report their learning outcomes.  The students are allowed to work individually or in a team of two to three students. The students are asked to satisfy specific requirements and fulfill certain restrictions such as pre known available materials, sizes and dimensions, and quality of finished product. We found that students are satisfied with their learning and developed skills and also enjoyed to see their end products are utilized in the ACK offices