This study aims at identifying the reality of alternative assessment for teachers of the first cycle of the basic education in the Sultanate of Oman with respect to the degree of teachers' use of alternative assessment strategies, level of self-efficacy for alternative assessment strategies, and attitude towards alternative assessment, and their relationship with other variables. To achieve the aims of the study, a descriptive research approach was utilized. A 5-point self-rated questionnaire was developed. It consists of three sections: Actual use of alternative assessment strategies (21 items), self-efficacy for alternative assessment strategies (21 items), and attitude towards alternative assessment (27 items). The psychometric properties of the questionnaire were examined in terms of validity and reliability. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of (392) teachers teaching grades (1-4) of the first cycle of the basic education from three governorates (Muscat, Batinah North, and Batinah South) in the Sultanate of Oman. Results showed that teachers' use of alternative assessment strategies was high, their level of self-efficacy for alternative assessment strategies was high, and their attitude towards alternative assessment was positive. Also, there were statistically significant differences among teachers in using alternative assessment strategies, level of self-efficacy for alternative assessment strategies, and attitude towards alternative assessment attributed to specialization and training in alternative assessment. However, there were no statistically significant differences among teachers in using alternative assessment strategies, level of self-efficacy for alternative assessment strategies, and attitude towards alternative assessment attributed to years of teaching experience, teaching quorum, and teaching load. The researcher recommends conducting workshops on alternative assessment for the teachers and more research in the area of alternative assessment
(9)
(5)
TNF-α-induced osteoclastogenesis is central to post-menopausal and inflammatory bone loss, however, the effect of phytoestrogens on TNF-α-induced bone resorption has not been studied. The phytoestrogens genistein, daidzein, and coumestrol directly suppressed TNF-α-induced osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption. TRAP positive osteoclast formation and resorption area were significantly reduced by genistein (10(-7) M), daidzein (10(-5) M), and coumestrol (10(-7) M), which was prevented by the estrogen antagonist ICI 182,780. TRAP expression in mature TNF-α-induced osteoclasts was also significantly reduced by these phytoestrogen concentrations. In addition, in the presence of ICI 182,780 genistein and coumestrol (10(-5) -10(-6) M) augmente
... Show More
(50)
(1)
(2)
(6)
(6)
Nigella sativa has various pharmacological properties and has been used throughout history for a variety of reasons. However, there is limited data about the effects of N. sativa (NS) on human cancer cells. This study aimed at observing the roles of methanolic extract of N. sativa on apoptosis and autophagy pathway in the Human PC3 (prostate cancer) cell line. The cell viability was checked by MTT assay. Clonogenic assay was performed to demonstrate clonogenicity and Western blot was used to check caspase-3, TIGAR, p53, and LC3 protein expression. The results demonstrated that PC3 cell proliferation was inhibited, caspase-3 and p53 protein expression was induced, and LC3 protein expression was modulated. The clonogenic assay showed that PC3
... Show More
(1)
(1)
A tunable band pass filter based on fiber Bragg grating sensor using an in-fiber Mach-Zender interferometer with dual micro-cavities is presented. The micro-cavity was formed by splicing together a conventional single-mode fiber and a solid core photonic crystal fiber (SCPCF) with simple arc discharge technique. Different parameters such as arc power, length of the SCPCF and the overlap gap between samples were considered to control the fabrication process. The ellipsoidal air-cavity between the two fibers forms Fabry-Perot cavity. The diffraction loss was very low due to short cavity length. Ellipsoidal shape micro-cavities were experimentally achieved parallel to the propagation axis having dimensions of (24.92 – 62.32) μm of width
... Show MoreThis paper aims to propose a hybrid approach of two powerful methods, namely the differential transform and finite difference methods, to obtain the solution of the coupled Whitham-Broer-Kaup-Like equations which arises in shallow-water wave theory. The capability of the method to such problems is verified by taking different parameters and initial conditions. The numerical simulations are depicted in 2D and 3D graphs. It is shown that the used approach returns accurate solutions for this type of problems in comparison with the analytic ones.
(7)
(5)
In this paper, a comparison between horizontal and vertical OFET of Poly (3-Hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as an active semiconductor layer (p-type) was studied by using two different gate insulators (ZrO2 and PVA). The electrical performance output (Id-Vd) and transfer (Id-Vg) characteristics were investigated using the gradual-channel approximation model. The device shows a typical output curve of a field-effect transistor (FET). The analysis of electrical characterization was performed in order to investigate the source-drain voltage (Vd) dependent current and the effects of gate dielectric on the electrical performance of the OFET. This work also considered the effects of the capacitance semiconductor on the performance OFETs. The value
... Show More
(5)
(1)
(3)
<span lang="EN-US">The need for robotics systems has become an urgent necessity in various fields, especially in video surveillance and live broadcasting systems. The main goal of this work is to design and implement a rover robotic monitoring system based on raspberry pi 4 model B to control this overall system and display a live video by using a webcam (USB camera) as well as using you only look once algorithm-version five (YOLOv5) to detect, recognize and display objects in real-time. This deep learning algorithm is highly accurate and fast and is implemented by Python, OpenCV, PyTorch codes and the Context Object Detection Task (COCO) 2020 dataset. This robot can move in all directions and in different places especially in
... Show More
(13)
(4)