Dynamic Assessment of Writing Skill in Advanced EFL Iranian Learners

AbstractDynamic Assessment (hereinafter DA) fundamentally is based on Vygotsky's theory of mediation and ZPD. In contrast to Traditional Assessment (hereinafter TA) which focuses on the product to show the current capability of learners, DA focuses on the process to predict their future achievement. This study intends to investigate the effectiveness of incorporating DA in improving teaching writing at advanced level among Iranian EFL learners. To fulfill this end twenty randomly chosen participants underwent a course of study in advanced writing for the period of two months and in eight sessions. All these participants received the same treatment, however, half of them, in the experimental group, were assessed dynamically and the other half, in the control group, were assessed traditionally. The participants’ essays in both groups were assessed by two distinct raters and their results were statistically analyzed. In order for the study results to be triangulated a questionnaire consisting of three questions was distributed among participants to support the quantitative results in a qualitative and subjective manner. The result of statistical analysis of the T-test which was used to distinguish between the experimental and the control group in addition to the questionnaires showed a significant change in the essays of the participants in the experimental group. The paper concludes with some practical implications for teachers, material developers and syllabus designers

Case Report Peripheral Edema Occurring during Treatment with Risperidone Combined with Citalopram

An 80-year-old female presented with symptoms of depression, worthlessness, hopelessness, loss of energy, insomnia, impatience, and forgetfulness associated with persecutory delusion that had begun about one year before her visit. She was diagnosed with major depression with psychotic signs and began treatment with risperidone (2 mg/night) and citalopram (20 mg/day). After 20 days, she returned and reported partial improvement in her symptoms, although she had developed severe swelling of the hands and feet. The results of liver and renal function tests and rheumatologic tests were found to be within normal limits. Risperidone was discontinued for a week, and the swelling resolved completely. Risperidone was then administered again, and the swelling returned so that the patient had to discontinue taking the drug. The reappearance of edema on rechallenge is strong evidence implicating risperidone as the cause of the swelling

Optimal Robust LQI Controller Design for Z-Source Inverters

This paper investigates the linear quadratic integral (LQI)-based control of Z-source inverters in the presence of uncertainties such as parameter perturbation, unmodeled dynamics, and load disturbances. These uncertainties, which are naturally available in any power system, have a profound impact on the performance of power inverters and may lead to a performance degradation or even an instability of the system. A novel robust LQI-based design procedure is presented to preserve the performance of the inverter against uncertainties while a proper level of disturbance rejection is satisfied. The stability robustness of the system is also studied on the basis of the maximum sensitivity specification. Moreover, the bat algorithm is adopted to optimize the weighting matrices. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed controller in terms of performance and robustness

Effect of Bentonite Addition on Geotechnical Properties of Oil-Contaminated Sandy Soil

Oil and its derivatives not only change the chemical and biological properties of the soils, but also affect their geotechnical properties. Effects of oil contamination on a sandy soil which mixed with bentonite was assessed in terms of compaction, shear strength, and consolidation behavior. The experiments were carried out by polluting dry sandy soil with 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10% w/w crude oil at different bentonite contents (0, 5, 10, 15, 20% w/w). Results of compaction tests indicated that at a fixed bentonite content, with increasing crude oil content, the maximum dry density increases, while the optimum water content decreases. Similarly, at a fixed contaminant content, increasing the bentonite content in the soil leads to increase in soil maximum dry density and the optimum moisture content. Moreover, direct shear tests revealed that at a specific bentonite content, higher contamination concentration causes lower internal friction angle. The effect of oil content on the coefficient of consolidation (Cv) and void ratio of soils with 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 percent bentonite contents was studied. The results of consolidation tests indicated that at a fixed bentonite content Cv has an overall increasing pattern which is in its maximum amount at 5% oil content

Highlighting the idea of exerkines in the management of cancer patients with cachexia: novel insights and a critical review

Background: Exerkines are all peptides, metabolites, and nucleic acids released into the bloodstream during and after physical exercise. Exerkines liberated from skeletal muscle (myokines), the heart (cardiokines), liver (hepatokines), white adipose tissue (adipokines), brown adipose tissue (batokines), and neurons (neurokines) may benefit health and wellbeing. Cancer-related cachexia is a highly prevalent disorder characterized by weight loss with specific skeletal muscle and adipose tissue loss. Many studies have sought to provide exercise strategies for managing cachexia, focusing on musculoskeletal tissue changes. Therefore, understanding the responses of musculoskeletal and other tissue exerkines to acute and chronic exercise may provide novel insight and recommendations for physical training to counteract cancer-related cachexia. Methods: For the purpose of conducting this study review, we made efforts to gather relevant studies and thoroughly discuss them to create a comprehensive overview. To achieve this, we conducted searches using appropriate keywords in various databases. Studies that were deemed irrelevant to the current research, not available in English, or lacking full-text access were excluded. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge the limited amount of research conducted in this specific field. Results: In order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the findings, we prioritized human studies in order to obtain results that closely align with the scope of the present study. However, in instances where human studies were limited or additional analysis was required to draw more robust conclusions, we also incorporated animal studies. Finally, 295 studies, discussed in this review. Conclusion: Our understanding of the underlying physiological mechanisms related to the significance of investigating exerkines in cancer cachexia is currently quite basic. Nonetheless, this demonstrated that resistance and aerobic exercise can contribute to the reduction and control of the disease in individuals with cancer cachexia, as well as in survivors, by inducing changes in exerkines

MicroRNA-mediated regulation of Nrf2 signaling pathway: Implications in disease therapy and protection against oxidative stress

MicroRNAs (miRs) are small non-coding pieces of RNA that are involved in a variety of physiologic processes such as apoptosis, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, cell cycle and cell survival. These multifunctional nucleotides are also capable of preventing oxidative damages by modulating antioxidant defense systems in a variety of milieu, such as in diabetes. Although the exact molecular mechanisms by which miRs modulate the antioxidant defense elements are unclear, some evidence suggests that they may exert these effects via nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway. This intracellular mechanism is crucial in the maintenance of the physiologic redox balance by regulating the expression and activity of various cellular antioxidative defense elements and thereby plays a pivotal role in the development of oxidative stress. Any impairment in the Nrf2 signaling pathway may result in oxidative damage-dependent complications such as various diabetic complications, neurological disorders and cancer. In the current review, we discuss the modulatory effects of miRs on the Nrf2 signaling pathway, which can potentially be novel therapeutic targets