Externalities in North-South technology transfer: the case of CNG engines in Iran

This contribution focuses on illuminating the challenges and difficulties of North-South technology transfer. The central message of this paper is that North-South technology transfer is not simply a contract between two transacting firms and does not depend only on intra-firm and inter-firm factors. The process may also be influenced by a number of external factors, beyond the control or power of project managers. However, understanding of these external factors greatly influences the success of firms' technological development. These externalities could arise from North-South contexts variances, international atmosphere and even by different levels of both sides' actors involved in the process. Using an in-depth case study analysis for collaboration between Iranian and German companies, this article develops a clearer understanding of external factors which affect the cross-border technology transfer process

Personal, family and societal educational needs assessment of individuals with spinal cord injury in Iran

Objectives: To explore individuals’ perception of the personal, family and societal educational needs following a spinal cord injury. Methods: Sixty-one patients who sustained a traumatic SCI between March 2015 and June 2016 referred to Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center were included in a cross sectional study and completed an online survey containing open-and closed-ended questions, in Iran. Participants’ responses were analyzed i using a qualitative approach with a thematic analysis. Results: Following a thematic analysis of the patient’s perceived educational needs, 3 themes and 14 subthemes were identified. The 3 themes included personal, family, and societal educational perceived needs. Within personal educational needs, there were 7 subthemes which included personal independence and transportation, financial independence, life skills modification, knowledge about SCI, prevention of SCI complications, relationships and sexual function, and psychological adjustments. Among family educational needs, the 3 subthemes were caregiver skills and communication, first aid and emergency skills, and emotional and psychological support. For societal educational needs, the 4 subthemes described were social integration, interpersonal communication skills, SCI awareness and injury prevention, sympathize while avoiding pity. Conclusion: According to our findings, people with SCI have various needs that need to be addressed. Educational support should be a part of a comprehensive rehabilitation program and geared towards addressing the patients’ personal and family needs, while educating the community about SCI in order to allow for reintegration into society

What do faculties specializing in brain and neural sciences think about, and how do they approach, brain-friendly teaching-learning in Iran?

Objective: to investigate the perspectives and experiences of the faculties specializing in brain and neural sciences regarding brain-friendly teaching-learning in Iran. Methods: 17 faculties from 5 universities were selected by purposive sampling (2018). In-depth semi-structured interviews with directed content analysis were used. Results: 31 sub-subcategories, 10 subcategories, and 4 categories were formed according to the “General teaching model”. “Mentorship” was a newly added category. Conclusions: A neuro-educational approach that consider the roles of the learner’s brain uniqueness, executive function facilitation, and the valence system are important to learning. Such learning can be facilitated through cognitive load considerations, repetition, deep questioning, visualization, feedback, and reflection. The contextualized, problem-oriented, social, multi-sensory, experiential, spaced learning, and brain-friendly evaluation must be considered. Mentorship is important for coaching and emotional facilitation

Train-the-trainers in hand hygiene : a standardized approach to guide education in infection prevention and control

Background Harmonization in hand hygiene training for infection prevention and control (IPC) professionals is lacking. We describe a standardized approach to training, using a “Train-the-Trainers” (TTT) concept for IPC professionals and assess its impact on hand hygiene knowledge in six countries.Methods We developed a three-day simulation-based TTT course based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Multimodal Hand Hygiene Improvement Strategy. To evaluate its impact, we have performed a pre-and post-course knowledge questionnaire. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the results before and after training.Results Between June 2016 and January 2018 we conducted seven TTT courses in six countries: Iran, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Spain and Thailand. A total of 305 IPC professionals completed the programme. Participants included nurses (n = 196; 64.2%), physicians (n = 53; 17.3%) and other health professionals (n = 56; 18.3%). In total, participants from more than 20 countries were trained. A significant (p < 0.05) improvement in knowledge between the pre- and post-TTT training phases was observed in all countries. Puebla (Mexico) had the highest improvement (22.3%; p < 0.001), followed by Malaysia (21.2%; p < 0.001), Jalisco (Mexico; 20.2%; p < 0.001), Thailand (18.8%; p < 0.001), South Africa (18.3%; p < 0.001), Iran (17.5%; p < 0.001) and Spain (9.7%; p = 0.047). Spain had the highest overall test scores, while Thailand had the lowest pre- and post-scores. Positive aspects reported included: unique learning environment, sharing experiences, hands-on practices on a secure environment and networking among IPC professionals. Sustainability was assessed through follow-up evaluations conducted in three original TTT course sites in Mexico (Jalisco and Puebla) and in Spain: improvement was sustained in the last follow-up phase when assessed 5 months, 1 year and 2 years after the first TTT course, respectively.Conclusions The TTT in hand hygiene model proved to be effective in enhancing participant’s knowledge, sharing experiences and networking. IPC professionals can use this reference training method worldwide to further disseminate knowledge to other health care workers.peer-reviewe

Women's Ijtihad and Lady Amin's Islamic ethics on womanhood and motherhood

Women's position, identity, and value in Islam have been affected by androcentric interpretations of the Qur'an and hadith throughout Islamic history. Women's roles in society, as well as their position vis-a-vis Islamic sources and authority, have been shaped by these interpretations. In Shi'a Islam, due to the majority male clergy's resistance, women have rarely reached the highest loci of Shi'i authority and jurisprudence. However, there have been women scholars who have transgressed these normative frameworks. Lady Amin, who was one of the most prominent Iranian theologians of the 19th and 20th centuries, is a notable example. Lady Amin had great knowledge of jurisprudence and gained the status of mujtahida at the age of forty. Her scholarly work addressed not only interpretations of the Qur'an and hadith, but also women's issues and gender politics of her time. This study addresses women's ijtihad in Shi'a Islam and investigates Lady Amin's teachings on the topics of womanhood and motherhood. This study focuses on Lady Amin's book of Islamic ethics, titled Ways of Happiness: Suggestions for Faithful Sisters, written as a Shi'i source of guidance with a specific focus on women and gender in Shi'a Islam

Gendered Representations of Male and Female Social Actors in Iranian Educational Materials

This research investigates the representations of gendered social actors within the subversionary discourse of equal educational opportunities for males and females in Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) books. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA) as the theoretical framework, the authors blend van Leeuwen’s (Texts and practices: Readings in critical discourse analysis, Routledge, London, 2003) ‘Social Actor Network Model’ and Sunderland’s (Gendered discourses, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, 2004) ‘Gendered Discourses Model’ in order to examine the depictions of male and female social actors within this gendered discourse. The gendered discourse of equal opportunities was buttressed by such representations within a tight perspective in proportion to gender ideologies prevailing in Iran. Resorting to CDA, we can claim that resistance against such gendered discourse in Iranian EFL textbooks militates against such gender norms. These representations of male and female social actors in school books are indicative of an all-encompassing education, reinforcing that the discourse of equal opportunities is yet to be realized in the education system of Iran

FARS: Fuzzy Ant based Recommender System for Web Users

Recommender systems are useful tools which provide an adaptive web environment for web users. Nowadays, having a user friendly website is a big challenge in e-commerce technology. In this paper, applying the benefits of both collaborative and content based filtering techniques is proposed by presenting a fuzzy recommender system based on collaborative behavior of ants (FARS). FARS works in two phases: modeling and recommendation. First, user’s behaviors are modeled offline and the results are used in second phase for online recommendation. Fuzzy techniques provide the possibility of capturing uncertainty among user interests and ant based algorithms provides us with optimal solutions. The performance of FARS is evaluated using log files of “Information and Communication Technology Center” of Isfahan municipality in Iran and compared with ant based recommender system (ARS). The results shown are promising and proved that integrating fuzzy Ant approach provides us with more functional and robust recommendations