Pre-service EFL teachers’ online participation, interaction, and social presence

Participation in online communities is an increasing need for future language teachers and their professional development. Through such participation, they can experience and develop an awareness of the behaviors required to facilitate their future learners’ participation in online learning. This article investigates participation, interaction patterns, and social presence (SP) levels of pre-service English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in online communication within a longitudinal blended learning setting. A secondary aim of this article is to explore social network analysis (SNA) as an alternative method to measure SP. Data analysis included calculation of number of forum entries and words, qualitative analysis of interaction patterns, content analysis, and SNA. The results indicated that an online course on tutoring skills and SP improved pre-service EFL teachers’ online participation skills. Increased interaction and a more cohesive network were observed as the course progressed. The findings are significant in that they suggest a relationship between content analysis for SP (especially the interactive dimension) and SNA measures (centrality, influence, and prestige), implicating SNA as an emerging research method for the investigation of SP. This article concludes with future research perspectives and suggestions for EFL teacher training

Thermal properties of Malaysian cohesive soils

The thermal properties of soils surrounding energy piles are required for the efficient and optimal design of shallow geothermal energy pile systems. In this study, the thermal conductivity, thermal resistivity and volumetric specific heat of two types of Malaysian cohesive soil were obtained through a series of laboratory experiments using a thermal needle probe. This study was conducted to determine the effect of moisture content on the thermal conductivity, thermal resistivity and volumetric specific heat values of the cohesive soil at a given value of soil density. For soils with low to medium moisture content, a linear increase in the thermal conductivity and volumetric heat capacity was observed as the moisture content gradually increased, while the thermal resistivity values of the soil had decreased. Meanwhile, for soils with high moisture content, the thermal conductivity was observed to have decreased, and a marked increase was seen in the thermal resistivity. This is due to the disruption of the thermal flow continuity in the soil matrix with the presence of moisture in the soil which adversely affects the thermal conductivity

Electronic feedback on second language writing: A retrospective and prospective essay on multimodality

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Experimental Shear Behavior of Fiber Reinforced Composite Corrugated Plate Girders at Intermediate Supports

Bridges with corrugated steel webs have been extensivelyconstructed in different countries. A trapezoidally corrugatedsteel plate is composed of a series of longitudinal andinclined subpanels. For a steel corrugated web girder, it isassumed that the web carries merely shear forces due to theaccordion effect [1,2]. The web in such a girder was found tocarry insignificant longitudinal stresses from the primaryflexure. Consequently, the bending moment is nearly carriedby its flanges. Thus, it is worth pointing out that the shearstrength can be determined without consideration ofmoment-shear interaction. But it was found that problem inan area where intermediate supports that shear forces arecompletely carried by web, and found that the value of theshear resistance, which is a concrete slab by almost beneglected. In recent years has been the study of differenttypes of materials to increase the efficiency of concrete andincrease the shear forces at the intermediate supports. Thusin this research, the effect of adding fiber to the concrete incomposite corrugated plate girders at intermediate supportswas investigated

Morphometrics studies of Mahisefid (Rutilus frisii kutum, Kamensky, 1901) from selected rivers in the southern Caspian Sea

Mahisefid, Rutilus frisii kutum , is a cyprinid fish which is distributed from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan along the Caspian Sea. It is one of the economically important fish in the region. As part of the Iranian Fisheries Company’s policy to improve the stocks of this species, every year, fingerling of Mahisefid are released into the southern basin of the Caspian Sea. The main objective of this study was to determine populations in different of rivers. In total, 387 fish were collected from four rivers, including Lemir, Sefidrood, Shirrood and Tajan, where this fish migrates for spawning, in spring 2005. Thirteen conventional morphometric factors, 13 ratio and 12 Truss morphometrics were measured and calculated in this study. Conventional and Truss morphometric data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA Principal Component Analysis and discriminant. Average of coefficient of variation (CV%) of morphometric in males was 14.95, 10.28, 17.47 and 16.56 and in females was 21.35, 19.74, 18.25, and 19.74 in Lemir, Sefidrood, Shirrood and Tajan River, respectively, showing that all morphometric characters were significantly different (P<0.05) among four sampling sites (populations). The first component of morphometrics 44.32% in males and 68.94% in females were positive, indicating that the conventional morphometric was good descriptor of the body shape variation among the populations, especially in females. The total cumulative variances were 76.6% and 87.8% in males and females, respectively, suggesting that this can be considered as a useful discriminator. The total cumulative variances were 64.27% and 64.21% in males and females, respectively. The first component of truss was 87.7% and 81.3% of the total variance, in males and females, respectively. The results of the present study suggest that each sampling site represents independent population in each river

ASSESSMENT OF HOSPITAL WASTEWATER QUALITY AND MANAGEMENT IN BAB-AL MUADHAM REGION AT BAGHDAD

The Tigris River is the most important source of water in Iraq; however, it suffers from the impact of pollutants that disposal directly into it. In this study, the Water Quality Index (WQI) of 7 of the chemical properties (Cl-, NO3, SO4, COD, BOD5, Ca, Mg) in the Tigris River, Baghdad, Iraq was analyzed to measure the impact of liquid waste discharge in the city of medicine on the river from January to October 2020. Three points were selected as the sample location, the first point was 700 meters before the discharge point, the second point was the discharge point, and the third point was 400 meters after the discharge point. The findings revealed that the concentration of all the measured components at the region where the sanitary discharge point site2 was situated was much higher than that of the location before the sanitary discharge point site1. For example, in January Cl- the concentration at site1 was (350 mg/l) relative to site2 the concentration at (1200 mg/l). In comparison, the concentration of the constituents in the area after the sanitary discharge point site 3 was lower than that of the sanitary discharge point area site2. In addition, Cl- concentration at site3 was (750 mg/l) lower than site2 (1200 mg/l) but still higher than site1 (350 mg/l). The lower concentration at site3 suggests that the water body of the river is being diluted; however, this is not a solution as the causes of pollutants of the river are various. Most of the findings have shown that the permissible cap for the Iraqi standards and the World Health Organization (WHO) for the river maintenance system has been surpassed

Morphometrics Studies of Mahisefid (Rutilus frisii kutum, Kamensky, 1901) from Selected Rivers in the Southern Caspian Sea

Mahisefid, Rutilus frisii kutum , is a cyprinid fish which is distributed from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan along the Caspian Sea. It is one of the economically important fish in the region. As part of the Iranian Fisheries Company’s policy to improve the stocks of this species, every year, fingerling of Mahisefid are released into the southern basin of the Caspian Sea. The main objective of this study was to determine populations in different of rivers. In total, 387 fish were collected from four rivers, including Lemir, Sefidrood, Shirrood and Tajan, where this fish migrates for spawning, in spring 2005. Thirteen conventional morphometric factors, 13 ratio and 12 Truss morphometrics were measured and calculated in this study. Conventional and Truss morphometric data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA Principal Component Analysis and discriminant. Average of coefficient of variation (CV%) of morphometric in males was 14.95, 10.28, 17.47 and 16.56 and in females was 21.35, 19.74, 18.25, and 19.74 in Lemir, Sefidrood, Shirrood and Tajan River, respectively, showing that all morphometric characters were significantly different (P<0.05) among four sampling sites (populations). The first component of morphometrics 44.32% in males and 68.94% in females were positive, indicating that the conventional morphometric was good descriptor of the body shape variation among the populations, especially in females. The total cumulative variances were 76.6% and 87.8% in males and females, respectively, suggesting that this can be considered as a useful discriminator. The total cumulative variances were 64.27% and 64.21% in males and females, respectively. The first component of truss was 87.7% and 81.3% of the total variance, in males and females, respectively. The results of the present study suggest that each sampling site represents independent population in each river

Isolation of avian influenza H5N1 virus from vaccinated commercial layer flock in Egypt

Uninterrupted transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) H5N1 of clade 2.2.1 in Egypt since 2006 resulted in establishment of two main genetic clusters. The 2.2.1/C group where all recent human and majority of backyard origin viruses clustered together, meanwhile the majority of viruses derived from vaccinated poultry in commercial farms grouped in 2.2.1.1 clade. In the present investigation, an HPAIV H5N1 was isolated from twenty weeks old layers chickens that were vaccinated with a homologous H5N1 vaccine at 1, 7 and 16 weeks old. At twenty weeks of age, birds showed cyanosis of comb and wattle, decrease in egg production and up to 27% mortality. Examined serum samples showed low antibody titer in HI test (Log2 3.2 ± 4.2). The hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes of the isolated virus were closely related to viruses in 2.2.1/C group isolated from poultry in live bird market (LBM) and backyards or from infected people. Conspicuous mutations in the HA and NA genes including a deletion within the receptor binding domain in the HA globular head region were observed. Despite repeated vaccination of layer chickens using a homologous H5N1 vaccine, infection with HPAIV H5N1 resulted in significant morbidity and mortality. In endemic countries like Egypt, rigorous control measures including enforcement of biosecurity, culling of infected birds and constant update of vaccine virus strains are highly required to prevent circulation of HPAIV H5N1 between backyard birds, commercial poultry, LBM and humans