Background: Collaborative learning is an important pedagogical strategy which gained a huge interest in critical domains such as the medical field. However, to ensure the quality of this learning method, it is necessary to focus intention not only on the cognitive aspect but also on the social activities that represent an essential issue during collaborative learning sessions. Our objective in this study is to highlight the collaborative aspect in the group learning method of clinical reasoning. Methods: In this work, we have focused on cognitive studies that are interested in the clinical reasoning processes, while proposing a model dedicated to the design of collaborative clinical reasoning learning environment in synchronous mode. This model is primarily interested in social activities that have a strong influence on the collaborative learning effectiveness, and they are generally treated implicitly by basing on the improvisation and spontaneity of the learners group. Results: The research idea was embodied through a collaborative learning clinical reasoning environment based on Web 2.0 technologies. We chose this technology to benefit from its ease of use and from its technical performances that can significantly contribute to the development of the cognitive and social aspects in the collaborative learning environment. Conclusion: Our first contact with medical students showed us that they are appreciating this learning method. Indeed, to evaluate objectively our choices reliability, we plan to accomplish this research with a quantitative study based on real experiences with clinicians and medical students. The suggested study will allow us to collect the necessary lessons to work in depth on the relevant questions concerning the cognitive and social activities in the collaborative clinical reasoning learning.  

Background: Collaborative learning is an important pedagogical strategy which gained a huge interest in critical domains such as the medical field. However, to ensure the quality of this learning method, it is necessary to focus intention not only on the cognitive aspect but also on the social activities that represent an essential issue during collaborative learning sessions. Our objective in this study is to highlight the collaborative aspect in the group learning method of clinical reasoning. Methods: In this work, we have focused on cognitive studies that are interested in the clinical reasoning processes, while proposing a model dedicated to the design of collaborative clinical reasoning learning environment in synchronous mode. This model is primarily interested in social activities that have a strong influence on the collaborative learning effectiveness, and they are generally treated implicitly by basing on the improvisation and spontaneity of the learners group. Results: The research idea was embodied through a collaborative learning clinical reasoning environment based on Web 2.0 technologies. We chose this technology to benefit from its ease of use and from its technical performances that can significantly contribute to the development of the cognitive and social aspects in the collaborative learning environment. Conclusion: Our first contact with medical students showed us that they are appreciating this learning method. Indeed, to evaluate objectively our choices reliability, we plan to accomplish this research with a quantitative study based on real experiences with clinicians and medical students. The suggested study will allow us to collect the necessary lessons to work in depth on the relevant questions concerning the cognitive and social activities in the collaborative clinical reasoning learning.

: In the present work, thin films of Cr/NiO/Ni are deposited on glass substrates using RF magnetron sputtering technique. The uniformity and homogeneity of the prepared films were controlled by varying the power of the source, the targetsubstrate distance and the pressure of the plasma gas which is argon. In order to test the Preisach Model, we carried out measurements according to two directions: parallel and perpendicular to the substrate plane using a Vibrating Sample Magnetometer at room temperature. Good agreement has been obtained by comparing the experimental hysteresis loops to the ones determined using Preisach model. We conclude that this model is powerful in predicting the magnetic properties of multilayer systems.

A numerical homogenization technique and morphological analysis based on the finite element method are used to compute mechanical properties of porous materials. This is achieved by considering two–dimensional matrix containing random distribution of identical non–overlapping circular or elliptical voids. Several microstructure configurations are obtained by varying the voids morphology and the porosity of the matrix. The notion of the representative volume element is used for numerical simulations in order to estimate the morphology effects of the voids on the effective ultimate tensile strength of the called Lotus–Type Porous Metals. A confrontation of the obtained numerical results of the representative microstructures for different morphologies of voids and different porosities to an analytical model and experimental data is performed. Finally, a formula improving the Boccaccini model is proposed to estimate effective tensile strength of porous metals taking into account the voids morphology.

The purpose of this paper is to ensure power efficiency in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) through a new framework-oriented middleware, based on a biologically inspired mechanism that uses an evolutionary multi-objective optimization algorithm. The authors call this middleware framework multi-objective optimization for wireless sensor networks (MONet).