Background/Objectives: Clostridioides difficile is a “One Health” pathogen and a cause of antibiotics-associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis. Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) have been documented in the genomes of clinical C. difficile strains; however, the presence of MGEs in environmental strains remains poorly characterized. Thus, the present study was conducted with the objective of identifying the prevalence of MGEs, including mobilizable transposons (MTns), conjugative transposons (CTns), plasmids, and insertion sequences, in whole genome sequences (WGSs) of environmental C. difficile isolates. Methods: The analysis of MGEs was conducted using 166 WGSs obtained from C. difficile strains isolated from various environmental sources contaminated with feces. The MGEs were identified using bioinformatic tools. Results: A total of 48.2% (80/166) of the studied genomes were identified to harbor nine transposons, including Tn916, Tn6194-like, Tn5397, Tn6215, Tn4001, Tn6073, Tn6110, Tn6107, or Tn5801-like. The majority of MTns and CTns could be found within C. difficile sequence types ST11, ST3, and ST35. The results demonstrated close genetic relatedness among the studied genomes, the array of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes, such as tetM, ermB, and aac(6′)-aph(2″), and the presence of CTns. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that 24.7% (41/166) of the genome sequences of isolates were associated with various predominant plasmid groups, including pCD6, pCD-ECE4-6, pCD-WTSI1-4, pCDBI1, and pCd1_3, which belonged to 16 different sequence types. Furthermore, several plasmids were identified as harboring the prophage phiCDHM19. Conclusions: The results of the current study suggest that the identified plasmids are abundant and may encode functions that are relevant to C. difficile physiology. The genomes of C. difficile strains examined contain closely related CTns, suggesting that horizontal transfer of AMR is important in this species or other bacterial species. Further research is required to ascertain the effect of these genetic elements and their transferability on the biology of C. difficile.

Abstract

This qualitative research has been explored factors affecting English language learner performance and teacher effectiveness. Specifically, it has been investigated key elements impacting English language teacher effectiveness and learner proficiency, grounded in established theoretical frameworks and prior research. The study has been aimed to understand how to enhance the English language teaching process by addressing challenges originating from teachers. It has been provided a clear definition of an effective teacher and clarified the meaning of "effectiveness" within language instruction. Furthermore, it has been elucidated the characteristics of effective language teachers and presented a comprehensive understanding of professionalism and teacher professional development. It also has been explored teachers' perceptions regarding the qualities of effective English language instructors and outlined concrete steps for impactful professional development initiatives. Furthermore, it has been identified common challenges in teaching English effectively faced by educators and have been proposed practical remedies to overcome these obstacles. Finally, it has been concluded with recommendations for the Ministry of Education, advocating for systemic interventions that influence policy, resource allocation, and national strategy to cultivate a culture of continuous learning and excellence among English language teachers.

Keywords: English Language Learners, Teacher Effectiveness, Learner Proficiency, Professional Development, English Language Teaching, Pedagogical Challenges, Teacher Professionalism, Educational Policy.

Abstract:

This research deals with estimating the likely switch of own car and private vehicles modes

users to public transport modes in the main cities as Tripoli Capital city of Libya due to

reduced travel time of all trips influenced by travel costs through the introducing the public

transport modes such as public buses and increasing cost of car parking. The data on other

factors (variables) that could potentially reason a model switch of from own cars and private

transport to public transport were collected through a survey (questionnaire) with a specified

preference approach. Mode-switch models to describe the switch of behaviour of own car

operators to public transport are developed. A binary logit regression model was used to

assessment the transport displacement model for work and study trips. Mode-switch

likelihood curves have also, been developed to serve as a user-friendly tool to analyse the

likely model-switch for a variety of variables. One way to achieve this objective is by

establishing reserved public transport lanes on main urban Tripoli city roads. The providing of

private road lanes will reduce the level of road traffic congestion and this may effect in a

switch of all or some private transport mode users to public transport modes.

Key words: Own car, Public transport modes, logit model, Travel time, Travel cost, parking

cost and switch probabilities.

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This paper proposes a novel robust blind color image watermarking technique that combines entropy analysis, lifting wavelet transform (LWT), QR factorization, and discrete cosine transform (DCT) for copyright protection. The RGB components of the color image are first separated, and the R component is then subjected to the 2-level LWT. Following DCT is applied to the 2-level LWT's high-frequency sub-band, the DCT coefficients are separated into 4x4 non-overlapping blocks. Each chosen block is then subjected to QR factorization, and the watermark is embedded in the first row and first column element of the upper triangular matrix. Numerous simulated tests show that the presented scheme is highly imperceptible and robust to attacks. The presented watermarking scheme performs better than the others in terms of invisibility, according to comparisons with comparable schemes.

In recent years, English language learners are becoming highly dependent on the 

use of their smart phones to find out meanings of the vocabulary they usually do 

not know. A study by Soy (2022) highlighted that English language teachers need 

to introduce the use of smartphones as a learning tool to their students and take 

serious actions by not allowing them to use them during classes or making good 

classroom management and strict regulation concerning smartphone use in the 

classroom. The researcher in this paper attempts to shed lights on research 

conducted in this field by exploring advantages and disadvantages of the use of 

smartphones by (EFL) English language learners. This paper aims to identify the 

effectiveness of smartphones in enhancing language acquisition among learners 

by synthesizing data from various studies. The data of this study included 

analyzing 47 articles published between (2014) and (2023). The topics of the 

articles predominately were about smartphones and English language learning. 

This simple paper offers valuable insights for educators and stockholders seeking 

to optimize smartphone use in language education.