The Efficacy of Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Iranian Students with Autism Spectrum Disorderon Their Social Skills and Willingness to Communicate

AbstractObjectivesThis applied research is the first practical study of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Iran. We examined the effect of a well-designed foreign language learning setting in facilitation of social skills and willingness to communicate in children with ASD.Materials & MethodsA mixed-method research design was used. Using stratified sampling, a limited sample of 18 students were chosen from Kerman Province, southeastern Iran in 2014 categorized in three levels of ASD for each group of experimental and control; matched pairs were used to ensure homogeneity of participants in two groups. Each participant received 15 sessions with totaling 67 h of language learning. First 10 sessions were in the form of tutorials and the last 5 sessions were held in the form of paired classes with a peer. Before and after the sessions, caregivers and parents completed a questionnaire on students' social skills; the English instructor also rated participants' willingness to communicate.ResultsTeaching a foreign language had a positive main effect on social skills from caregivers’ and parents’ view compared to those of controls, significantly (P<0.05). From the instructor's view, there was additionally a significant improvement in the students with ASD’s willingness to communicate in classroom settings compared to the control group (P<0.05).ConclusionOptimum foreign language pedagogy for students with ASD is applied as an effective context enhancing children’s capabilities in social skills and willingness to communicate, provoked through a motivational foreign setting modulation in a novel environment. Suggestions on enhancing joint attention during the curriculum are provided

Two different concentrations of propofol and ketamine combinations in pediatric patients under intrathecal injection of chemotherapy drugs

Background: Intrathecal injection of chemotherapy drugs in leukemic children is a painful procedure that needs sedation and analgesia. Different combinations of ketamine and propofol (ketofol) are used for this purpose. In this study we compared two different concentrations of ketofol    (combination of 1/3 and 1/5 of ketamine and propofol). Methods: In this randomized double blinded controlled clinical trial, 80 Children were studied in two groups. Group 1 received a combination of 1/3 of ketamine and propofol and group 2 received a combination of 1/5 for procedure of Intrathecal injection of chemotherapy drugs. Hemodynamic parameters, recovery time, and drug side effects were compared between two groups.Results: In this study 80 children age 4-12 years old underwent Intrathecal injection of chemotherapy drugs were studied. There were no significant differences in age, weight between groups.  Recovery time was significantly shorter in group 2 (p = 0.001). Also heart rate was lower in group 2 significantly (p = 0.001), but mean arterial pressure was not different between two groups (p = 0.287). SPO2 was > 95% in all the children during the procedure (p = 0.74).Conclusions: Combination of 1/5 of ketamine and propofol (ketofol) for sedation in the children undergoing intrathecal injection of chemotherapy drugs is better than a combination of 1/3 because of shorter recovery time and lower heart rate.

Administration of low molecular weight and unfractionated heparin during percutaneous coronary intervention

AbstractThis systematic review with meta-analysis sought to determine the efficacy and safety of unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) on clinical outcomes following percutaneous coronary intervention. Medline, Embase, Elsevier, and web of knowledge as well as Google scholar literature were used for selecting appropriate studies with randomized controlled design. After screening 445 studies, a total of 23 trials (including a total of 43,912 patients) were identified that reported outcomes. Pooled analysis revealed that LMWH compared to UFH could significantly increase thrombolysis in myocardial infarction grade 3 flow (p<0.001), which was associated with similar target vessel revascularization (p=0.6), similar incidence of stroke (p=0.7), and significantly lower incidence of re-myocardial infarction (p<0.001), major bleeding (p=0.02) and mortality (p<0.001). Overall, LMWH was shown to be a useful type of heparin for patients with MI undergoing PCI, due to its higher efficacy and lower rate of complication compared to UFH. It is also associated with increased myocardial perfusion, decreased major hemorrhage, and mortality

Extensive Acute Lower Extremity Arterial Thrombosis: A Major Thrombus Formation Caused by COVID-19

Acute thromboembolic events have been frequently reported in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to an increase in the coagulation system activity and endothelial dysfunction. This report describes a patient with COVID-19 who initially reported respiratory symptoms and developed acute lower limb ischemia secondary to extensive macrovascular arterial thrombosis, which was treated with thrombectomy. The development of such extensive arterial thrombosis with anticoagulants at therapeutic doses is a new sign of increased viral pathogenicity, and it is necessary to develop and apply updated prophylaxis protocols for thrombosis in these patients

Improved efficacy of hyperthermia by auraptene in human colon adenocarcinoma cells

Colon adenocarcinoma is one of the most common cancers worldwide, and resistance to current therapeutic modalities is a serious drawback in its treatment. Auraptene is a natural coumarin with considerable anticancer effects. The goal of present study was to introduce a novel combinatorial approach against colon adenocarcinoma cells. To do so, HT29 cells were pretreated with non-toxic auraptene and then hyperthermia was applied. Afterwards, viability of cells was assessed, changes induced in the cell cycle were analyzed, and expression pattern of candidate genes was studied. Results of MTT assay demonstrated significant (pThe accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Effects of electrokinetic phenomena on the load-bearing capacity of different steel and concrete piles : a small-scale experimental study

To date, the electrokinetic (EK) method has only been used to increase the bearing capacity of steel piles. This study analysed the impact of EK on the bearing capacity of reinforced cement concrete piles (RCCP), reinforced lime-cement concrete piles (RLCCP), and steel piles located in kaolin clay. The performance of four different cathodes was also evaluated, and the iron electrode was found to be the most effective cathode for use in the EK process. Unlike RLCCP, the bearing capacity of 7 day cured RCCP with 5 day EK decreased due to corrosion in the pile body. However, the addition of lime to RCCP significantly increased the pile bearing capacity by 57.8% with 8 day EK and prevented damage and corrosion in the pile body. It is concluded that EK can effectively increase the bearing capacity of both metallic and even concrete piles

The four-dimensional ultrasonography effects on changes of foetal and maternal heart rate: Are these interventions safe?

Background and Objectives: Ultrasonography is one of the prenatal diagnostic methods, which is applied to detect any genetic diseases, defects, and anomalies. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in foetal heart rate (FHR) and maternal heart rate due to four-dimensional (4D) ultrasonography immediately after ultrasound imaging. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on the foetus of pregnant women who were referred to the ultrasound clinic for undergoing a (4D) ultrasonography. After filling out the demographic forms, the baseline FHR was measured at the beginning of the 2D and 4D ultrasonography. All haemodynamic parameters were recorded at the end of the combined ultrasound imaging. Data were compared before and after ultrasonography using paired t-test and correlation coefficient in SPSS software. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to adjust the effect of baseline heart rate in foetus and sonography. Results: The mean duration of combined 2D and 4D ultrasound imaging was 1249.8 ± 257 s. Moreover, the mean 4D ultrasound duration was 246.1 ± 83.3. A significant decrease were observed in maternal heart rate following the combined ultrasonography (P < 0.001), while the changes in FHR were not significantly different after the ultrasound imaging (P = 0.394). The ANCOVA showed that sonography was not related factors for change in FHR (β = 0.006, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.011–0.024, P = 0.467) while the base FHR (β = 0.659, 95% CI: 0.482–0.836, P < 0.001) was directly associated with FHR change. Conclusion: The 4D ultrasonography was not effective factor on the FHR and it seems that the ultrasound imaging is a safe diagnostic method for FHR. However, we recommended long-term studies to evaluate the effect of the 4D ultrasound imaging on preterm labour, post-partum complications, and mental problems