EVALUATING ORAL PROFICIENCY SKILL THROUGH ANALYTICS AND HOLISTIC WAYS OF SCORING

Purpose: Evaluating speaking skill is an exceedingly difficult and intricate subject. Two methods of testing oral proficiency are usually used: holistic and analytic scoring. To this end, this study aimed to compare analytic and holistic techniques for scoring in evaluating oral proficiency skills. Methodology: The participants of this study were 70 second-grade university EFL students who were studying English Language Teaching at a university in Iran. The participants in this research were both male (n=40) and female (n=30) with the age range from24 to 25. Main Findings: The results showed a statistically considerable diversity between analytic and holistic methods of evaluation considering that the p-value was estimated at 0.002 (P < 0.05). Applications: The findings confirmed that employing these two scoring techniques in the procedure of evaluation may be considered proper as they seem to complement each other, one augments the other and lead to more inclusive evaluation. Novelty/Originality: This study is new since it is the first time in an Iranian university context; oral proficiency skill was evaluated through holistic and analytic scoring

PCR detection of leptospira in stray cats, probable reservoir

Leptospirosis is an important spirochetal disease in terms of public health worldwide. Numerous wild and domestic animal species are major reservoirs of Leptospira, and sources of infection for humans. Transmission to humans occurs by direct contact with infected animals, or by contact with soil or water contaminated with the urine of an infected animal, generally asymptomatic. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of Leptospira by PCR in stray cats in Isfahan province, Iran. Amplicons of 793 bp were detected in the blood (buffy coat) of 28 out of the 132 stray cats examined (21.2%), as all of them showed no clinical signs of leptospirosis. Stray cats seem to constitute a non-negligible reservoir of Leptospira spp. for humans.Détection de la leptospirose par PCR chez le chat errant, probable réservoir La leptospirose est une infection bactérienne à spirochètes importante en santé publique dans le monde entier. De nombreuses espèces d’animaux sauvages et domestiques constituent d’importants réservoirs de leptospires et sont des sources d’infection pour l’homme. La transmission à l’homme s’effectue par contact direct avec un animal infecté ou par contact avec le sol ou l’eau, contaminé par l’urine d’un animal infecté, le plus souvent asymptomatique. Cette étude avait pour objectif, de préciser la fréquence de leptospira par PCR chez les chats errants dans la province d’Ispahan, en Iran. Des amplicons de 793 bp ont été détectés dans le sang (couche leucocytaire) de 28 chats errants sur les 132 examinés (21,2%), alors qu’aucun d’eux ne présentait de signes cliniques de la leptospirose. Ces résultats suggèrent que le chat errant peut constituer un réservoir non négligeable de Leptospira spp. pour l’homme.Azizi Shahrzad, Momtaz Hassan, Mohammad Goodarzi Amir, Tajbakhsh Elahe. PCR detection of leptospira in stray cats, probable reservoir. In: Bulletin de l'Académie Vétérinaire de France tome 166 n°1, 2013. pp. 67-70