Engineering education has a crucial role in the economic and social development of society; this paper aims to investigate the most significant factors that contributing in improving the quality of the engineering education. Furthermore, identify the factors affecting the students’ academic performance. The study was conducted by using statistical Design of Experiments (DOE) approach to investigate the main effects of lecture delivery, assessment, engagement, communication, and interaction with instructors. Minitab software is implemented to perform statistical analysis to identify the significance of each factor, and degree by which each factor influences the students’ academic achievement. Results showed that the students’ academic performance is affected by the availability of course materials, and communications with instructors.

This paper addresses a bi-criteria optimization problem to minimize total flow time and makespan simultaneously for a cellular flowshop with Sequence Dependent Setup Times (FMCSP with SDSTs); A multi-objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MPSO) and a Multi-objective Simulated Annealing (MOSA) Algorithm are proposed to solve the proposed problem. furthermore, an improved algorithm (named as IMPSO-TA), where MPSO is combined with Threshold Acceptance (TA) algorithm to improve the convergence of the obtained Pareto Fronts. The proposed algorithms are evaluated using several Quality Indicators (QI) measures for multi-objective optimization problems. Results showed that proposed algorithms can generate approximated Pareto Fronts in a reasonable CPU time. Furthermore, quality of Pareto fronts generated by IMPSO-TA is better than Pareto fronts found by MPSO and MOSA based on the test problems that are used in this research at the cost of CPU time. Further, the proposed IMPSO-TA performs as best available algorithms in the literature for small and medium test problems with a very minor deviation for best results for large test problems.

Using Hyland’s (2000) model as a research tool and drawing on Hyland’s (2005a) model of metadiscourse, this article presents a pragmatic two-level rhetorical analysis of the constituent moves within research article abstracts. It specifically zeroes in on the identification and mapping of the most frequently used metadiscourse markers signifying these moves. The findings highlight that Libyan authors employ interactive markers more often than interactional ones. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis of metadiscourse indicate that transitions, endophoric markers, and frame markers emerge as the dominant interactive categories. In contrast, interactional metadiscourse is predominantly represented by attitude markers, hedges, and boosters. Based on the findings, Move 1 features the highest frequency of metadiscourse markers, followed by Move 2. Notably, transitions stand out as the most prevalent category across all moves. This study carries pedagogical implications for academic writing practices among Libyan academic writers and students alike. Moreover, it enhances the existing body of research on the genre of research articles.

FRACTURES OF THE PROXIMAL HUMERUS: MANAGEMENT AND EVALUATION (GENERAL OVERVIEW)

Abstract:

Fractures of the proximal humerus are a common phenomenon, while low-energy injuries occur in the elderly, and less frequent fractures with higher energy affect young people. The decision to perform surgical or nonsurgical treatment is determined by the functional goals and the degree of displacement of the proximal anatomical parts of the humerus. Surgical treatment is based on the ability to achieve and maintain the reduction, the vascularity of the articular segment, the quality of attachment of soft tissues and bone porosity. Despite numerous studies, the optimal treatment of significantly displaced fractures remains controversial. Keywords: fracture, humerus, fracture treatment.

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Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is the most common pathogen causing antibiotic-associated intestinal diseases in humans and some animal species, but it can also be present in various environments outside hospitals. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the presence and the characteristics of toxin-encoding genes and antimicrobial resistance of C. difficile isolates from different environmental sources. C. difficile was found in 32 out of 81 samples (39.50%) after selective enrichment of spore-forming bacteria and in 45 samples (55.56%) using a TaqMan-based qPCR assay. A total of 169 C. difficile isolates were recovered from those 32 C. difficile-positive environmental samples. The majority of environmental C. difficile isolates were toxigenic, with many (88.75%) positive for tcdA and tcdB. Seventy-four isolates (43.78%) were positive for binary toxins, cdtA and cdtB, and 19 isolates were non-toxigenic. All the environmental C. difficile isolates were susceptible to vancomycin and metronidazole, and most isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin (66.86%) and clindamycin (46.15%), followed by moxifloxacin (13.02%) and tetracycline (4.73%). Seventy-five isolates (44.38%) showed resistance to at least two of the tested antimicrobials. C. difficile strains are commonly present in various environmental sources contaminated by feces and could be a potential source of community-associated C. difficile infections.