Improving students’ use of argumentation is front and center in the increasing emphasis on scientific practice in K-12 Science and STEM programs. We explore the construct validity of scenario-based assessments of claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) and the structure of the CER construct with respect to a learning progression framework. We also seek to understand how middle school students progress. Establishing the purpose of an argument is a competency that a majority of middle school students meet, whereas quantitative reasoning is the most difficult, and the Rasch model indicates that the competencies form a unidimensional hierarchy of skills. We also find no evidence of differential item functioning between different scenarios, suggesting

Fractal geometry is receiving increase attention as a quantitative and qualitative model for natural phenomena description, which can establish an active classification technique when applied on satellite images. In this paper, a satellite image is used which was taken by Quick Bird that contains different visible classes. After pre-processing, this image passes through two stages: segmentation and classification. The segmentation carried out by hybrid two methods used to produce effective results; the two methods are Quadtree method that operated inside Horizontal-Vertical method. The hybrid method is segmented the image into two rectangular blocks, either horizontally or vertically depending on spectral uniformity crit

Background: The risk of antibiotics resistance (AR) increases due to excessive of antibiotics either by health care provider or by the patients.

Objective: The assessment of the self-medication Practice of over the counter drugs and other prescription drugs and its associated risk factor.

Subjects and Methods: Study design: A descriptive study was conducted from “20th December 2019 to 08th January 2021”. A pre validated and structured questionnaire in English and Urdu language was created to avoid language barrier including personal detail, reasons and source and knowledge about over the counter drugs and Antibiotics. Sample of the study was randomly selected.

Lithium-rich layered oxide cathodes have attracted considerable attention due to their high energy density, but have suffered from voltage drop, structural instability, and limited electrical conductivity. In this study, the electrochemical performance of the lithium-rich cathode material Li[Li0.20Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13]O2 was evaluated after modification by zinc doping and composition with graphene oxide or graphene. The zinc-doped powders were synthesized by the sol-gel method, while the graphene-based composites were prepared by the hydrothermal route. The structural, morphological and electrochemical characteristics of the modified materials were examined using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scann

We found that 4,5- diphenyl- 3(2- propynyl) thio- 1??-triazole [1? forms a complex with Pd (11) ion of ratio 1:1 which absorbs light in CH2CI2 at 400 nm, and 4,5- diphenyl- 3(2- propenyl) thio- 1,2,4- triazole [II] forms complexes with Pd (II) ion of ratio 1:1 which absorbs light at 390 nm, and of ratio 2:1 which absorbs light at 435 nm. On the other hand, we found that the new derivative 4- phenyl- 5( p- amino phenyl) -3- mercapto- 1,2,4- triazole ?111? forms complexes with Cu (II) ion of the ratio 1:1 which absorbs light at 380 nm, with Ni (II) ion of the ratio 3:1 which absorbs light at 358 nm; and with Co (11) ion of the ratio 3.2:1 which absorbs light at 588 nm. The ratio of the complexes were determined by measuring the electronic spe

Support vector machines (SVMs) are supervised learning models that analyze data for classification or regression. For classification, SVM is widely used by selecting an optimal hyperplane that separates two classes. SVM has very good accuracy and extremally robust comparing with some other classification methods such as logistics linear regression, random forest, k-nearest neighbor and naïve model. However, working with large datasets can cause many problems such as time-consuming and inefficient results. In this paper, the SVM has been modified by using a stochastic Gradient descent process. The modified method, stochastic gradient descent SVM (SGD-SVM), checked by using two simulation datasets. Since the classification of different ca

Some feline intestinal parasites such as Toxocara, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium can spread to humans through feces. Therefore, it is important to prevent exposure of family members by screening cat fecal samples twice per year for potential treatment regimes. This study was initiated to compare and identify gastrointestinal parasites of domestic and stray cats (Felis domesticus) in Baghdad City, Iraq. Parasite eggs and oocysts were identified under light microscopy by applying standard laboratory techniques (flotation and sedimentation). Overall, 59 of 121 (48.7%) fecal samples were positive for intestinal parasites. The rate of infection by Toxoplasma gondii was (3.31%), Isospora spp. (6.61%), Cryptosporidium spp. (31.4%), and Toxocara spp

In this study, gamma-ray spectrometry with an HPGe detector was used to measure the specific activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K in soil samples collected from IT1 oil reservoirs in Kirkuk city, northeast Iraq. The “spectral line Gp” gamma analysis software package was used to analyze the spectral data. ²²⁶Ra specific activity varies from 9  0.34 Bq.kg^-1 to 17  0.47 Bq.kg^-1. ²³²Th specific activity varies from 6.2  0.08 Bq.kg^-1 to 18  0.2 Bq.kg^-1. ⁴⁰K specific activity varies from 25  0.19 Bq.kg^-1 to 118  0.41 Bq.kg^-1. The radiological hazard due to the radiation emitted from natural r

In this paper, we studied the spark corona discharge in tap and distillited waters. The results show the shape of cone that generated on the tip of capillary tube is different with conductivity of liquids. The blue glow appears at the end of capillary tube and the drop extends into a cone. In addition, the conducitivity is affected on the relationship between the appearance of the blue glow discharge with the applied voltage. The size of the cone decreases with an increase in applied voltage. The cone diameter at the base of capillary tube oscillates with period approximately 1 Sec. this oscillates in the cone diameters is due to the change distance between the liquid electrode and the surface of liquid. The intensity of spark corona dis