Investigating the Effect of Performance on the Academic Performance of Users According to Individual characteristics of them

Background and Objective:In recent years, we have witnessed a dramatic growth of digital gaming media in entertainment and popular culture. Games are firmly entrenched in human culture and have consistently impacted their social life and leisure on an unprecedented scale. One of the achievements of digital gaming media is that it stimulates issues beyond entertainment. In general, the game can be described as a voluntary activity in which the player has freedom of action and can enter or leave the game at any time. An emerging strategy in the field of play is gamification, but gamification is slightly different from normal play. Gamification can be defined as the use of gamified thinking in areas that do not have the nature of play, which is created to create interaction and motivation in people to achieve the desired goals. Nowadays, gamification has been turned into a strong motive tool to engage and increase users’ participation in the educational systems. Previous research indicates generally the importance and efficiency of gamification methods to improve educational processes, but in these researches, the characteristics of each audience and its effect on their behavior were not investigated. In this research, we attempt to study individual characteristics such as their gender and education background on their effectiveness rate from gamification. Methods: For this study, we designed an educational system based on gamification approach named as “Elenow” and gave it to the students (N=41) who were studying “Technical writing and presentation method” course. Elenow is a web-based system which is accessible on users’ mobile.  In addition to the data collected by Elenow system, a questionnaire was given to the audiences and asked them about the effectiveness of gamification process implemented by the Elenow system. Also, the information about the students’ educational background was extracted from the university educational systems. Findings:The most important findings of this research revealed that the individual characteristics of audiences are significant factors on their effectiveness from gamification. Therefore, we can’t consider a single approach for all individuals participating in a gamified activity. Conclusion: The most important results of this research are: as the audience of educational systems has different individual characteristics, such as gender, the effectiveness of each element of the designed gamification is different for them. Also, their level of interest and satisfaction with the elements of gamification, such as; signs, points, etc. are not the same; therefore, in designing gamified mechanisms for educational purposes, a single version cannot be considered for all audiences. For this reason, it is important to consider these features in gamified designs. In particular, some symptoms motivate female students and others motivate male students. While women get better feedback than homework-related symptoms, men are more interested in receiving skill-related symptoms.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Onset of labor in post-term pregnancy by chamomile

Background: Post-term pregnancy is an important factor in perinatal mortality and morbidity. Generally, to reduce perinatal mortality in pregnancy, the delivery isdonebefore adverse perinatal morbidity occurs. Toprevent prolonged pregnancy, labor is induced with chemical drugs and complementary therapies. Due to the side effects and contraindications of chemical medicine, the use of herbs has been investigated in the induction of labor in post-term pregnancy. Objectives: This study was done to identify the effect of chamomile on inducing labor in women with post-term pregnancy of Shahid Akbarabadi hospital in Tehran in 2013. Patients and Methods: This double-blind clinical trial study was performed in Iran on 80 post-term pregnant women with a gestational age of 40 weeks or more, a single pregnancy, 18 - 35 years old, cephalic presentation, an estimated fetal weight of 2500 - 4000 grams, an absence of uterine contraction, a cervical Bishop score of less than 4, the safety of the membrane, and low-risk pregnancy; they were randomly assigned to one of two groups of 40 women. Each of the participants was given a bottle containing 42 capsules (500mgeach) and took 2 capsules every 8 hours. The data were collected through the questionnaire of demographic observational, and examinal characteristics. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, and Fisher�s exact test using SPSS (16/win) were used to determine and compare the effects of drugs on inducing labor in the groups. Results: After a week of using the first dose, the results showed that in 92.5 of the chamomile group and 62.5 in the placebo group, delivery symptoms started after taking the oral capsules, and there were significant statistical differences between the two groups for the onset of labor (P = 0.003) There was a noticeable statistical difference between the two groups regarding the mean interval time to the onset of labor pain after taking the capsules (P = 0.000). Conclusions: In this study,chamomile stimulated labor in post-term pregnancy. With further studies, chamomile, which has no chemical side effects, can be suggested for stimulating labor in post-term pregnancy. � 2016, Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal

Cryopreservation of rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss) semen

Breeding has moved beyond the point of simply propagating random stock. Genetic potential can be improved by establishing and crossing genetically defined strains, crossing species and manipulating gametes. Some of these activities require cryopreservation of semen. Cryopreserved sperm could also be a means of exchange of genetic material between locations and populations when transportation of live fish is restricted. In this study we had a survey on rainbow trout sperm quality in Genetic and Breeding Center for Coldwatwr Fishes, Shahid Motahari, Yasouj. Then Cryopreservation trials on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) sperm were carried out using six basic extenders. Egg batches of 25 g were inseminated with semen frozen in five 0.5-ml straws. Thowing temperature of cryopreserved sperm also was tested. In anather trial we investigate different cryoprotectant. The result showd that the best period for sperm collection in this center was from Novamber to January. The best extender based on sperm motility parameters were extender 2 and 1 with 57.2 and 56.9% fertilisatin rates, respectively. So this two extender were used in the further experiments. The best thowing temperathre was 25°C in 30s. Testing different cryoprotectant, adding 10% methanol to extender 1 gave the highest fertilization rate (64.6%) among cryoprotectant that used with this extender. In the other extender (2) adding 5% DMSO and mixture of 5% DMSO and 1% glycerol gave the highest fertilization rates (64.8% and 67.0%, respectively). In conclusion using extender 1 and 2 with mentioned cryoprotectant and thowing rate of 25°C in 30 s was recammended for rainbow trout sperm cryopreservation

Flexoelectric and surface effects on a cracked piezoelectric nanobeam: Analytical resonant frequency response

A nanoscale beam model containing defect under the piezoelectricity considering the surface effects and flexoelectricity is established on the framework of Euler-Bernoulli theory. The governing equations of motion and related boundary conditions are derived by using Hamilton’s principle. The imperfect nanobeam is modeled by dividing the beam into two separate parts that are connected by a rotational and a longitude spring at the defect location. Analytical results on the free vibration response of the imperfect piezoelectric nanobeam exhibit that the flexoelectricity and the surface effects are sensitive to the boundary conditions, defect position, and geometry of the nanobeam. Numerical results are provided to predict the mechanical behavior of a weakened piezoelectric nanobeam considering the flexoelectric and surface effects. It is also revealed that the voltage, defect severity, and piezoelectric material have a critical role on the resonance frequency. The work is envisaged to underline the influence of surface effects and flexoelectricity on the free vibration of a cracked piezoelectric nanobeam for diverse boundary conditions. It should be mentioned, despite our R. Sourkiprevious works, an important class of piezoelectric materials used nowadays and called piezoelectric ceramics is considered in the current study