Issues in Teachers' Professional Development (TPD) for EFL Teachers in Morocco

ABSTRACT: Today teachers’ professional development (TPD) has become a major concern in education. Big efforts and substantial budgets are devoted to sustain and increase both the teachers' and the school’s performances. However, providing quality TPD poses serious challenges to program designers. Professionals in the field hold that unless teachers’ professional and individual needs are attended in the trainings and later sustained through varied on-site activities, there is little chance that these will have any significant impact on teachers’ change (Day, 1999; Craft, 2000; Guskey, 2002; Diaz-Maggioli, 2004; Kennedy, 2005). The present article reports and discusses findings on the prevalent issues in TPD for EFL teachers in Morocco and how these affect the quality of the professional training programs that are provided every academic year. Implications and recommendations on how to improve the future TPD experiences are hence drawn. The study was based on the analysis of related official documents, questionnaires for English teachers (244) and 15 supervisors from various academies of education in Morocco, as well as two case studies representing typical professional training days. The results revealed that there are numerous stumbling blocks towards an effective implementation of TPD. The state’s lack of a strategic vision on ways and means to boost teachers’ growth resulted in a poor offer in quality TPD programs. The study recommends a participatory approach to the TPD programs design with more focus on school-based activities which provide better support to individual teachers

Radiation fields of a complex source in 2-D circular radome with metal gratings

Ankara : Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and the Institute of Engineering and Sciences of Bilkent University, 1997.Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 1997.Includes bibliographical references leaves 46-48.In this thesis, the transmission effect of a two-dimensional circular radome with periodic metal gratings is analyzed. We started with the study of gratings consisting of periodic arrays of thin lossy strips surrounded by vacuum. Then we investigated the behavior of such gratings if a dielectric hiyer is inserted between them. Complex line sources are considered to simulate directed beam fields used in practice. The fields on the interior and exterior sides of the radome are represented by modal cylindrical waves. Taking advantage of theoretical considerations recently published, we propose an approximate method and stress the numerical aspect. Data is obtained for the far field solutions and the directivity, and their dependences on different radome parameters. It appecirs that directivity variations with beam orientation are decreased considerably by a proper insertion of the dielectric layer.Ouardani, SlimM.S

PCV2-DNA in formalin-fixed and paraffin embedded lymph nodes of wild boar (Sus scrofa ssp. scrofa): one sampling approach for two laboratory techniques

Superficial inguinal lymph nodes from 72 wild boars examined in a previous immunohistochemical (IHC) study on porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) were selected for a PCV2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Four of these lymph nodes were PCV2-IHC strongly positive with PMWS histological lesions (outcome 1), 6 weak to mild PCV2-IHC positive without PMWS histological lesions (outcome 2) and 62 PCV2-IHC negative. Considering IHC the gold standard for diagnosis, the aims of the study were to evaluate the suitability of the PCV2-DNA extraction from formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue and the sensitivity and specificity of PCR under two IHC interpretations criteria: (A) the sample was considered positive if the result was outcome 1; (B) the sample was considered positive if the result was outcome 1 or 2. Under (A) criteria, sensitivity and specificity of PCR were 100% and 89.7%, respectively; the Cohen's Kappa coefficient was 0.49. Under (B) criteria, sensitivity and specificity of PCR were 80.0% and 95.2%, respectively; the Cohen's Kappa coefficient was 0.72. The high Cohen's Kappa coefficient under the (B) interpretative criteria indicates good agreement between the two methods. In conclusion, 1) DNA extracted from FFPE specimens of wild boar is suitable for PCR and further represents a screening test for PCV2/PCVD (PCV2 Diseases) investigations in wild boar as well; 2) routine histological sampling can also be useful for PCV2 virological studies in wild boar

Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of small ruminant lentiviruses isolated from Canadian sheep and goats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Small Ruminant Lentiviruses (SRLV) are widespread in Canadian sheep and goats and represent an important health issue in these animals. There is however no data about the genetic diversity of Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) or <it>Maedi Visna </it>Virus (MVV) in this country.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We performed a molecular and phylogenetic analysis of sheep and goat lentiviruses from a small geographic area in Canada using long sequences from the <it>gag </it>region of 30 infected sheep and 36 infected goats originating from 14 different flocks. Pairwise DNA distance and phylogenetic analyses revealed that all SRLV sequences obtained from sheep clustered tightly with prototypical <it>Maedi visna </it>sequences from America. Similarly, all SRLV strains obtained from goats clustered tightly with prototypical US CAEV-Cork strain.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The data reported in this study suggests that Canadian and US SRLV strains share common origins. In addition, the molecular data failed to bring to light any evidence of past cross species transmission between sheep and goats, which is consistent with the type of farming practiced in this part of the country where single species flocks predominate and where opportunities of cross species transmissions are proportionately low.</p

Bacteriological and physico-chemical assessment of wastewater in different region of Tunisia: impact on human health

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In many parts of the world, health problems and diseases have often been caused by discharging untreated or inadequately treated wastewater. In this study, we aimed to control physico-chemical parameters in wastewater samples. Also, microbiological analyses were done to reveal <it>Salmonella </it>strains and each <it>Escherichia coli </it>(<it>E.coli</it>) pathotype.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Sixty wastewater samples were collected from fifteen different regions of Tunisia. All physico-chemical parameters (pH, residual free chlorine, total suspended solids, biological oxygen demand, and chemical oxygen demand) were evaluated.</p> <p>For microbiological analyses, samples were filtered to concentrate bacteria. DNA was extracted by boiling and subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using different pairs of primers.</p> <p>The mean pH values recorded for the sampling point were above the WHO pH tolerance limit. The total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations varied between 240 mg/L and 733 mg/L in entrance points and between 13 mg/L and 76 mg/L in exit points. In entrance points, the studied wastewater has an average COD concentration that varied between 795 mg/mL to 1420 mg/mL. Whereas, BOD concentration of the wastewater ranged between 270 mg/L to 610 mg/L. In exit points, COD concentration varied between 59 mg/L and 141 mg/L, whereas BOD concentration ranged from 15 mg/L to 87 mg/L.</p> <p>The bacteriological control of wastewaters showed that, in entrance points, <it>Escherichia coli </it>(<it>E.coli</it>) was detected at the rate of 76.6%. Three <it>E.coli </it>pathotypes were found: ETEC (53.3%), EAEC (16.6%) and EIEC (6.6%).</p> <p>Concerning the ETEC isolated strains, 8 of 16 (50%) have only the heat-labile toxin gene, 5 of 16 (31.2%) present only the heat-stable toxin gene and 3 of 16 (18.7%) of strains possess both heat-labile toxin gene and heat-stable toxin gene. In exist point, the same pathotypes were found but all detected ETEC strains present only the "est" gene.</p> <p>Concerning <it>Salmonella </it>isolated strains; percentages of 66.6% and 20% were found in entrance and exit points respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Wastewaters contain a large amount of pathogenic bacteria that present a real impact on human health. Assessment wastewater treatment stations have to consider in account enterobacterial pathogens as potential pathogens that should be correctly controlled.</p

François de Singly et Sylvie Mesure (dir.), Le lien familial. Revue Comprendre, 2001, n° 2, Paris, PUF

Ouardani Mohammed. François de Singly et Sylvie Mesure (dir.), Le lien familial. Revue Comprendre, 2001, n° 2, Paris, PUF. In: Revue des sciences sociales, N°30, 2003. Les cicatrices de la mémoire. pp. 191-192

Sécurité des agents mobiles : protocole sécuritaire à base d'agents sédentaires coopérants

Sécurité des agents mobiles -- Protocole sécuritaire à base d'agents sédentaires coopérants -- Vérification formelle du protocole, implémentation, test et résultats