The Impact of Attending EFL Classes on the Iranian Female Learners’ Attributional Complexity

The multi-layered reality of EFL classes is of great significance in its impact upon the learners’ emotions and attitudes. In this study, it is suggested that teachers by taking a humanistic approach, along with making use of the unique features of their classes, could affect the learners’ thought patterns and cause attitude and behavior change. In particular, the teacher is believed to possess the power to have an impact upon the learners’ attributional complexity or the way they interpret the causes of others’ social behaviors. Attributional complexity, a term coined by Fletcher (1986), is “a psychological construct that describes the degree to which an individual is interested in understanding the causes of others’ behavior” (as cited in Fast, Reimer & Funder, 2008, p. 209). The current study aimed at unfolding the effect of attending foreign language learning classes on the Iranian female EFL learners’ attributional complexity. To this end, 33 Iranian female EFL learners (beginners), and 33 Iranian female non-EFL learners completed Attributional Complexity Scale before and after the EFL courses. The results of the t-tests showed that attributional complexity of the EFL learners did not change significantly after the time interval. The obtained results were believed to be due to the EFL learners’ relative lack of a required level of language proficiency in their first course of English, which enables them to involve in social interactions and benefit the language classes in a way that their thought patterns are affected. In addition, the period of language courses were believed to be too short for this change in EFL learners. Furthermore, it is believed that there is a great need to train teachers and try to actualize the potentialities of EFL classes, due to the endowments of the language teachers and the nature of their classes

The Impact of Linguistic Imperialism on Iranian EFL Learners’ Home Culture Detachment

This study attempts to investigate whether studying English as a major on one hand and the learners’ gender on the other hand would affect the degree of learners’ home culture detachment. To this end, two groups of subjects were chosen: EFL learners and non-EFL learners. A Home Culture Attachment Scale validated in the context of Iran was distributed among 266 participants. The data were analyzed by means of independent sample t-tests. The results revealed that due to familiarity with English language and culture, the EFL learners were more or less detached from their own culture; therefore, the assumption that familiarity with Western culture will diminish the influence of local culture was confirmed. The EFL learners showed some tendency toward the Western culture. The results also indicated that the participants’ gender differences played no role in their Home Culture Detachment. The findings of this study can be helpful not only from the English language instruction standpoint, but also valuable from socio-cultural perspectives whose concern is human traits

Pancreatic beta cell protection/regeneration with phytotherapy

Although currently available drugs are useful in controlling early onset complications of diabetes, serious late onset complications appear in a large number of patients. Considering the physiopathology of diabetes, preventing beta cell degeneration and stimulating the endogenous regeneration of islets will be essential approaches for the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The current review focused on phytochemicals, the antidiabetic effect of which has been proved by pancreatic beta cell protection/regeneration. Among the hundreds of plants that have been investigated for diabetes, a small fraction has shown the regenerative property and was described in this paper. Processes of pancreatic beta cell degeneration and regeneration were described. Also, the proposed mechanisms for the protective/regenerative effects of such phytochemicals and their potential side effects were discussed.Embora medicamentos disponíveis atualmente sejam úteis no controle de complicações da Diabetes, complicações aparecem em grande número de pacientes. Considerando-se a fisiopatologia do Diabetes, a prevenção da degeneração de células beta e o estímulo da regeneração endógena de ilhotas será abordagem essencial para o tratamento de diabetes mellitus insulino-dependente. A presente revisão aborda compostos fitoquímicos, cujo efeito é provado na proteção/regeneração de células beta de pâncreas. Entre centenas de plantas que têm sido investigadas para o diabetes, pequena fração tem mostrado propriedade regenerativa, que será descrita neste trabalho. Os processos de degeneração e de regeneração das células beta do pâncrease são descritos. Além disso, mecanismos propostos para efeitos de proteção e regeneração desses compostos fitoquímicos e seus possíveis efeitos colaterais também serão discutidos neste trabalho

A Didactic Approach to Curriculum Renewal on the Basis of Market Demands: A Grounded Theory Study

This study aims to provide sufficient information on the issues of the current approaches, materials, and curricula employed in the field of Translation Studies. To do so, the researcher investigated the demands of the market and the vocational realities so as to come to an understanding of the curriculum drawbacks. Furthermore, this study provides a review on the current trends used by academic institutions and private sector inIran. As a phase of the adopted model, several semi-structured interviews were held with authorities in the market of translation, and then the gathered data. Having analyzed the data, a number of themes emerged, the most important of which were the skills pertinent to technology and computer assisted translation. Finally, a number of recommendations were made to improve the official curriculum of Translation Studies. To the future researchers, this study provides baseline information on the recent status of translator teaching trends

Saffron (Crocus sativus) petal as a new pharmacological target: a review

Saffron petal is the main by-product of saffron processing which produced at high level but it is not applied and thrown out. Saffron petal is containing of several compounds such as mineral agents, anthocyanins, flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids and kaempferol. As saffron petal is cheaper and produces in large amounts compared to saffron stigma, so, it can be considered as an appropriate source for different purposes. In this review different pharmacological properties of saffron petal such as antibacterial, antispasmodic, immunomodulatory, antitussive, antidepressant, antinociceptive, hepatoprotective, renoprotective, antihypertensive, antidiabetic and antioxidant activity have been introduced. According to these properties, saffron petal can be used as an alternative or supplementary medicine in some diseases

The Effect of Educational Intervention based on Social Support Theory on Improvement of Hemodialysis Patients’ Quality of Life

Chronic kidney failure is a progressive and irreversible degeneration of renal function that affects the quality of life of patients. Social support as a coping mechanism can help promote health and improve the quality of life of a person. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of educational intervention based on social support theory on the improvement of hemodialysis patients’ QOL. This is a controlled quasi-experimental conducted in 2015 in Sari and with the participation of 100 hemodialysis patients that were randomly assigned to 2 groups. Prior to education, the patients were evaluated with demographic form, quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) and social support (MOS-SSS) questionnaires. Then, an educational program was developed based on social support theory and implemented for the intervention group. The two groups were re-evaluated with the same questionnaires after 1 and 3 months and the data were analyzed in SPSS. In the intervention group compared to the control group, the mean scores of quality of life and social support increased significantly after the intervention (