The Critical Discourse Analysis in the Persuasive Language of Hotel and Fast-Food Restaurant Advertisements

This research study attempts to analyze persuasive techniques in the hotel and fast-food restaurant advertisements in terms of critical discourse analysis techniques. Research on persuasiveness has been popular for a long time, studied as the art of speaking and features of rhetoric. Linguists have never stopped in their quest to find out what linguistic elements create persuasive effects and impact human brains to convince people about something. The research aimed to reveal what techniques were widely used in advertisements to catch customers' attention and persuade people to purchase the products. The study was conducted based on the qualitative-quantitative method, and the data was collected from the official pages of different famous hotels and fast-food restaurants. For investigation, 50 slogans, 25 from hotels' and 25 from fast food restaurants' advertisements, were analyzed based on "verbal techniques" and "power words techniques." The results of the study point to the comparative analysis of hotel and fast-food slogans, and they are represented with the help of charts and diagrams in statistical numbers. In the conclusion of the research, it became clear that the most frequent verbal technique used was the "we are different and unique" technique, and the most frequent vocabulary types were the "abundance words" and "confidence words" type of words

Vocabulary Learning Strategies of Azerbaijani Students and its Relation to their Academic and Technical English Vocabulary Knowledge

With English turning into a global language among the people in all parts of the world, it has played a similarly essential role in the educational system of Azerbaijan. Vocabulary is a vital and inseparable part of the four language skills in the activity of language learning. This research was aimed at investigating the use of various vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) among Azerbaijani engineering students. Moreover, the overall frequency of strategy use was explored by Azerbaijani learners as high strategy users, medium strategy users, and low strategy users. The study also investigated the students’ academic and technical English vocabulary knowledge, finding that the vocabulary learning strategy use is done in relation to students’ academic and technical English vocabulary knowledge. The descriptivequantitative research design was employed in this study. Two kinds of research instruments were utilized. A 60-item academic and a 30-item technical vocabulary test and an online questionnaire of vocabulary learning strategies with 23-item were employed. The findings demonstrated that there is not a significant relationship between VLSs and academic and technical English vocabulary knowledge of Azerbaijani engineering students. The research also indicated that meta-cognitive strategies included the most and least frequently used strategies among Azerbaijani learners. Consequently, Azerbaijani engineering students were high strategy users. It is obvious that vocabulary should not be treated as an additional material; on the contrary, syllabus designers and instructors have to put it forward as a vital ability in second or foreign language learning

Using social network rates among Ardabil city women over 25 years old

Introduction: The role of women in the structure of society and family is very important. Unfortunately, due to the lack of proper planning to fill leisure time among people and especially women, overuse of social networks had a huge impact on their daily lives and in addition to the benefits, sometimes it has some problems. Method: This cross-sectional descriptive study has been done on 150 women over 25 years who selected randomly from Ardabil city in the 2018. Required information were collected using a research based questionnaire containing demographic and specialized questions about the rate of using social networks and their reasons. Collected data were analysed using descriptive and analytical statistical methods in SPSS version 21. Results: The mean age of women was 34 ± 9 years. Of all women, 72% were married, 69% had graduated education, 27% were housewives, 44% were employees and 63% had a median income. Of all women, 94.7% were registered as members of social networks. Of them, 66% were registered on telegram. The most common reason for using Telegram, was chat and reading news. The maximum time spent with more than 5 hours for the social network was Telegram. Conclusion: Results showed that, most of the studied women have been used social networks and of them telegram and Instagram are more popular networks among Ardabil’s women

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Hydroxychloroquine plus standard of care compared with standard of care alone in COVID-19: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract The efficacy and safety of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in treating coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is disputed. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the efficacy and safety of HCQ in addition to standard of care (SOC) in COVID-19. PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of sciences, and medRxiv were searched up to March 15, 2021. Clinical studies registry databases were also searched for identifying potential clinical trials. The references list of the key studies was reviewed to identify additional relevant resources. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration tool and Jadad checklist. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan software (version 5.3). Eleven randomized controlled trials with a total number of 8161 patients were identified as eligible for meta-analysis. No significant differences were observed between the two treatment groups in terms of negative rate of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (Risk ratio [RR]: 0.99, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.90, 1.08; P = 0.76), PCR negative conversion time (Mean difference [MD]: − 1.06, 95% CI − 3.10, 0.97; P = 0.30), all-cause mortality (RR: 1.09, 95% CI 1.00, 1.20; P = 0.06), body temperature recovery time (MD: − 0.64, 95% CI − 1.37, 0.10; P = 0.09), length of hospital stay (MD: − 0.17, 95% CI − 0.80, 0.46; P = 0.59), use of mechanical ventilation (RR: 1.12, 95% CI 0.95, 1.32; P = 0.19), and disease progression (RR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.37, 1.85; P = 0.64). However, there was a significant difference between two groups regarding adverse events (RR: 1.81, 95% CI 1.36, 2.42; P < 0.05). The findings suggest that the addition of HCQ to SOC has no benefit in the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Additionally, it is associated with more adverse events

Lopinavir/Ritonavir for COVID-19: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PURPOSE: To provide the latest evidence on the efficacy and safety of lopinavir/ritonavir compared to other treatment options for COVID-19. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Cochran Library, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science for the relevant records up to April 2021. Moreover, we scanned MedRxiv, Google Scholar, and clinical registry databases to identify additional records. We have used the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and Cochrane risk of bias tools to assess the quality of studies. This Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan software (version 5.3). RESULTS: Fourteen studies were included. No significant difference was observed between lopinavir/ritonavir and non-antiviral treatment groups in terms of negative rate of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) on day 7 (risk ratio [RR]: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.63 to 1.09; P=0.17), and day 14 (RR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.81 to 1.05; P=0.25), PCR negative conversion time (mean difference [MD]: 1.09; 95% CI: -0.10 to 2.29; P=0.07), secondary outcomes, and adverse events (P\u3e0.05). There was no significant difference between lopinavir/ritonavir and chloroquine as well as lopinavir/ritonavir and hydroxychloroquine regarding the efficacy outcomes (P\u3e0.05). However, lopinavir/ritonavir showed better efficacy than arbidol for the same outcomes (P0.05). CONCLUSION: Lopinavir/ritonavir has no more treatment effects than other therapeutic agents used herein in COVID-19 patients

A critical study of the contribution of abbey theatre to the promotion of irish literature: With reference to the selected works of william butler yeats, john millington synge and george bernard shaw

Ireland faced with a general lack of interest in Irish literature and a significant decline in the literary works produced for Ireland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The poor economic condition, sectarian conflicts between the Catholics and Protestants and the heated political disputes between the then Ireland with Britain didn’t leave much room for the blossoming of literature embedded with romanticism and softer feelings. The popular literature in Ireland was heavily influenced by English culture, Modernism and materialistic elements. In the foreign theatres and on their stages, Irishmen at best became comical characters in perpetual drunken state and at worst became as indolent, lustful or dangerous figures. A circle of Celtic literary figures with W.B. Yeats leadership came together  in order to remove the negative depiction of the Irish people in English literature and revive Irish literature and language through Romanticism and revival of ancient Irish legends with its heroes and heroines. They hoped to establish a national theatre that proved Ireland to be a civilized nation with proper culture which led to the establishment of The Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Among these literary figures W.B. Yeats, J.M. Synge and G.B. Shaw are the focus of this study due to the importance of their role in the life of the Theatre. This study also intends to evaluate the role of The Abbey Theatre in the promotion of literature through the selected works of the aforementioned dramatists and the impact of their literary works on the then Irish society. It seems due to the disagreement among the members of The Abbey, its partial dissolution, the poor economic condition and the outbreak of the World War II the Theatre was only partially successful in the fulfilment of its initial goals. 

Blooming of the Novel in the Bloomsbury Group: An Investigation to the Impact of the Members of Bloomsbury Group on the Composition of the Selected Works of Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster

“For masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice…”. Woolf’s belief has been put to the test in the Bloomsbury Group and this paper intends to investigate the validity of her claim through a critical analysis of the selected works of its novelist members. In a central part of London during the first half of the twentieth century a group of intellectual and literary writers, artists, critics and an economist came together which later on was labeled as Bloomsbury group. The group’s members had an influential role in blooming novel in a different form of expression and profoundly affect its literary figures, Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster, in the composition of their fictions The Waves, A Room of One’s Own, To the Lighthouse and Forster’s A Room with a view and Howards End. The formation of Bloomsbury circle acted as a bridge from the Victorian bigotries and narrow-mindedness to the unbounded era of modernism as they searched for universal peace, individual liberalism and human accomplishments due to ideal social norms. They freely exchanged their views on variety of subjects without any limitation. The reasons behind their popularity compared to several contemporary groups were their innumerable works, the clarification of their lives through their diaries, biographies and autobiographies and their diverse kinds of activities such as criticism, painting, politics and literary writings. They were adherents of truth, goodness, enjoyment of beautiful object, intrinsic values, aesthetics, friendship and personal relationship. Intellectual intimacy and cooperation can be considered as the main attribute of its members as they collaborate with each other and employ the fundamental tenets of the group within their works. The modern style of its artists as post-impressionist highly affects the narration technique of its literary figures. These novelists tried to narrate the verbal utterances in a visual way as if the whole of the story is depicted on a canvas. Furthermore, this paper tries to discover the role of the non-literary (painters and critics) members of the group in blooming and forming of a different and novel kind of narration technique, namely ‘stream of consciousness’, through the visual impact of the painter and the discussion method of critic members of the group