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Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The trend of acquiring English as a Foreign Language (EFL) through Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has encouraged different educational institutions to develop strategic plans and directions for its onsite implementation and evaluation in order to promote the quality of instruction, enhance student achievement, and better inform and promote society. This paper focuses on the challenge of creating a CALL training program for English faculty members at a major university in Saudi Arabia. The goal of the program was to introduce CALL to English teachers and evaluate its effectiveness on their attitudes towards the integration of technology in their classes. A group of English teachers (n = 30) who were involved in teaching advanced level classes participated in a multiple-phase training program for seven weeks. The analysis of the data from a survey and a semi-structured interview revealed that the participating teachers developed positive beliefs towards the use of CALL in their classes. Although a majority of teachers believed that the skilled use and integration of CALL could lead to more effective language teaching, they reported that lack of appropriate technical, financial, and training supports could be the factors that inhibit the effective implementation of CALL in EFL classes. In the end, several implications of the findings for English language institutes, program administrators, and English teachers at Saudi universities were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of the Extreme Light Infrastructure Attosecond Light Purse Source (ELI-ALPS) laser light research institute in Szeged creates a unique opportunity for Hungary, and for Szeged inclusive, from political, scientific and economic development aspects, however, its multivarious impacts will attain a real outstandingly high potential, if a knowledge based science park around ELI-ALPS is created. The future ELI Science Park will be outstanding and unique from several aspects as compared to other spatial conglomerations (industrial parks, industrial areas, other science parks etc.) The fundamentals of the ELI Science Park is the scientific output of the Szeged University, which represents one of the primary initiatives for establishing the science park. Due to this, likely a wide range of research activities will settle there. Only a minor part will be related with laser research applications and will be in direct connection with ELI-ALPS, dealing presumably with information technology, medical imaging, biology and biotechnology, within it research of albumins, particles, particle radiation, X-ray radiation, examination of tumors, medical science and material science -- nano research. In our present paper we focus on quantifying the impacts of ELI and the related Science Park on the local economy by means of standard international methodology. We disassociate the so called direct, indirect, induced and catalytic impacts. From the usual roles we try to quantify most predictable and measurable factors of income and workplace generation. To assure easy comprehension results are compared to the income of Szeged's population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a protocol for a formal expert judgment process using a heterogeneous expert panel aimed at the quantification of continuous variables. The emphasis is on the process’s requirements related to the nature of expertise within the panel, in particular the heterogeneity of both substantive and normative expertise. The process provides the opportunity for interaction among the experts so that they fully understand and agree upon the problem at hand, including qualitative aspects relevant to the variables of interest, prior to the actual quantification task. Individual experts’ assessments on the variables of interest, cast in the form of subjective probability density functions, are elicited with a minimal demand for normative expertise. The individual experts’ assessments are aggregated into a single probability density function per variable, thereby weighting the experts according to their expertise. Elicitation techniques proposed include the Delphi technique for the qualitative assessment task and the ELI method for the actual quantitative assessment task. Appropriately, the Classical model was used to weight the experts’ assessments in order to construct a single distribution per variable. Applying this model, the experts’ quality typically was based on their performance on seed variables. An application of the proposed protocol in the broad and multidisciplinary field of animal health is presented. Results of this expert judgment process showed that the proposed protocol in combination with the proposed elicitation and analysis techniques resulted in valid data on the (continuous) variables of interest. In conclusion, the proposed protocol for a formal expert judgment process aimed at the elicitation of quantitative data from a heterogeneous expert panel provided satisfactory results. Hence, this protocol might be useful for expert judgment studies in other broad and/or multidisciplinary fields of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Íkala: Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura is the property of Universidad de Antioquia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Colombiana de Educación is the property of Universidad Pedaggica Nacional and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The electron pair is a central object in chemist's view of the chemical bond. The definition and description of the electron pair in the position space is a complex problem within the quantum chemistry. Several different possibilities of how to accomplish this task, i.e., how to describe the localizability of an electron and electron pair, are given in a historical survey. The derivation of the electron localizability indicator (ELI) is presented and the application of ELI for the bonding analysis is examined for few systems. The importance of the ELI-q describing the singlet-coupled electron pairs and its connection to Lewis idea of bonding is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims at describing a framework for investigating the general English language needs of foundation year students in King Abdul-Aziz University. Questions were raised about the skills and subskills in English language students should have upon finishing the foundation year and joining their prospected faculties in the university. Response came from two sources: Twelve representing faculties and 100 foundation year students. The methods used to obtain data were: semi-structured interviews and open discussion focus groups. A model of needs analysis based on the Learning -Centered Approach for Hutchinson and Waters (1987) was developed. The research findings are filtered and written into one final list. This research concludes by considering the implications of these findings and the importance of consulting the clients while designing or developing any curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An electronic load interface (ELI) for improving the operational margin of a photovoltaic (PV) dual‐converter system under dynamic conditions is presented. The ELI – based on a modified buck–boost converter – interfaces the output of the converters and the load system. It improves the operational margin of the PV dual‐converter system by extending the conditions under which the dual‐converter system operates at the maximum power point. The ELI is activated as and when needed, so as minimise system losses. By employing the ELI, utilisation and efficiency of a PV dual‐converter system increases. In general, the concept of the ELI can be applied to multi‐converter PV systems – such as multi‐converter inverters, and multi‐converter DC–DC converter systems – for performance and efficiency improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focus on the isomerization of nitrous acid HONO to hydrogen nitryl HNO2. Density functional (B3LYP) and MP2 methods, and a wide variety of basis sets, have been chosen to investigate the mechanism of this reaction. The results clearly show that there are two possible paths: 1) Uncatalysed isomerisation, trans-HONO → HNO2, involving 1,2-hydrogen shift and characterized by a large energetic barrier 49.7 ÷ 58.9 kcal/mol, 2) Catalysed double hydrogen transfer process, trans-HONO + cis-HONO → HNO2 + cis-HONO, which displays a significantly lower energetic barrier in a range of 11.6 ÷ 18.9 kcal/mol. Topological analysis of the Electron Localization Function (ELF) shows that the hydrogen transfer for both studied reactions takes place through the formation of a ‘dressed’ proton along the reaction path.1 Use of a wide variety of basis sets demonstrates a clear basis set dependence on the ELF topology of HNO2. Less saturated basis sets yield two lone pair basins, V1(N), V2(N), whereas more saturated ones (for example aug-cc-pVTZ and aug-cc-pVQZ) do not indicate a lone pair on the nitrogen atom. Topological analysis of the Electron Localizability Indication (ELI-D) at the CASSCF (12,10) confirms these findings, showing the existence of the lone pair basins but with decreasing populations as the basis set becomes more saturated (0.35e for the cc-pVDZ basis set to 0.06e for the aug-cc-pVTZ). This confirms that the choice of basis set not only can influence the value of the electron population at the particular atom, but can also lead to different ELF topology. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]