THE EFFECTS OF USING RUBRICS AND FACE TO FACE FEEDBACK IN TEACHING WRITING SKILL IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The use of rubrics in assessing the writing performance is very popular. In general, educators in universities use rubrics for more accurate assessment of students writing performance. The first aim of this study is to investigate how using of rubrics in teaching writing skill can affect writing performance of students. The second aim is to investigate how giving of face to face feedback by teachers can have influence on students writing performance. To this end, ESL Writing Grading Rubric was used in teaching of writing skill to the preparatory school students (n=36) to help them understand the targets for their learning and the standards of quality for writing skill in order to improve their writing performance. Also, face to face feedback were given to the writing assignments of students to promote the students’ awareness about their writing drawbacks. The qualitative analysis of the findings based on open-ended questionnaire and focused group interview showed that using rubrics in teaching writing skill and also giving face to face feedback improved the students writing performance. Students reported that by gaining awareness about the rubric, they could check their writing work, give feedback to their peers’ work, produce high quality writings, and got better grades. Keywords: writing skill, writing rubrics, preparatory school students, face to face feedbac

The prevention of endothelial dysfunction through endothelial cell apoptosis inhibition in a hypercholesterolemic rabbit model: the effect of L-arginine supplementation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The impact of L-arginine on atherogenesis and its ability to prevent endothelial dysfunction have been studied extensively during the past years. L-arginine is a substance for nitric oxide synthesis which involves in apoptosis. Hypercholesterolemia promotes endothelial dysfunction, and it is hypothesized that L-arginine prevents endothelial dysfunction through endothelial cells apoptosis inhibition. To test this hypothesis, thirty rabbits were assigned into two groups. The control group received 1% cholesterol diet for 4 weeks, and the L-arginine group received same diets plus 3% L-arginine in drinking water.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No significant differences were observed in cholesterol level between two groups, but the nitrite concentration in L-arginine group was significantly higher than other group (control group: 11.8 ± 1; L-arginine group: 14.7 ± 0.5 μmol/l); (<it>p </it>< 0.05). The aorta score of fatty streak in control group was 0.875 ± 0.35, but no fatty streak lesion was detected in L-arginine group (<it>p </it>< 0.05). The number of intimal apoptotic cells/500 cells of aorta in two groups of experiment were statistically different (control group: 39.3 ± 7.6; L-arginine group: 21.5 ± 5.3) (<it>p </it>< 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The inhibition of endothelial cells apoptosis by L-arginine restores endothelial function in a model of hypercholesterolemia.</p

The Effect of the Hydroalcoholic Extract of Persian shallot(Allium Hirtifolium boiss) on Albumin Glycation

زمینه و هدف: هیپرگلیسمی دیابتی باعث قندی شدن پروتئین&zwnj;های بدن و به نوبه خود موجب تغییر در ساختمان و عملکرد آن ها می&zwnj;گردد. برخی از عوارض بیماری دیابت از جمله نفروپاتی و رتینوپاتی به دلیل واکنش قندی شدن غیر آنزیمی پروتئین&zwnj;ها است. یکی از راه&zwnj;های درمانی برای مهار این واکنش، شکستن پیوند قند-پروتئین با استفاده از ترکیبات موجود در گیاهان دارویی می باشد. بنابراین مطالعه حاضر با هدف بررسی اثر عصاره هیدروالکلی موسیر ایرانی (Allium hirtifolium) بر مهار واکنش قند دار شدن آلبومین و توانایی شکستن پیوند آلبومین و گلوکز انجام شده است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه آزمایشگاهی تأثیر غلظت&zwnj;های 1/0، 2/0، 5/0، 1 گرم بر دسی لیتر از عصاره موسیر ایرانی در دو حالت مختلف:الف) مهار واکنش قندی شدن آلبومین ب) تاثیر آن بر شکستن پیوند آلبومین و گلوکز در زمان&zwnj;های 72،48،24 و 144 ساعت بررسی گردید. میزان قندی شدن با روش تیوباربیتوریک اسید سنجیده شد. جهت تجزیه و تحلیل داده&zwnj;ها از آزمون آنالیز واریانس یک طرفه و سپس آزمون توکی استفاده گردید. 05/0P &lt; نمایان گر اختلاف معنی دار بود. یافته&zwnj;ها: عصاره هیدروالکلی موسیر ایرانی در غلظت&zwnj;های 1/0 و 2/0 باعث مهار واکنش قندی شدن آلبومین شد. به عبارت دیگر تمامی غلظت&zwnj;های مورد استفاده، پیوند آلبومین و گلوکز را شکستند که بیش&zwnj;ترین تأثیر، در زمان&zwnj;های 72 و 144 ساعت پس ازتیمار با عصاره موسیر در غلظت 5/0 گرم بر دسی لیتر مشاهده شد .میزان شکستن پیوند، ارتباط مستقیم با زمان تیمار داشت. نتیجه&zwnj;گیری: نتایج نشان داد که موسیر ایرانی مانع از قندی شدن آلبومین شده و پیوند بین آلبومین و گلوکز را می&zwnj;شکند.بنابراین پیشنهاد می شود که تحقیقات بالینی بیشتر جهت ارزیابی اثر موسیر ایرانی بر کاهش قندی شدن آلبومین انجام شود

Mother-Father Differences in Postnatal Psychological Distress and Its Determinants in Iran

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the mother-father differences in Postnatal Psychological Distress (PPD) and its determinants among the parents with 8-weeks old children.MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, applying simple random sampling, 306 postnatal parents with an 8-weeks old infant in Saqqez County, Iran, were invited to answer the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) items through the telephone interview. Fifty-eight subjects declined to participate in the study (Response Rate = 81.04%). The data were analysed using the SPSS Statistics v. 21.RESULTS: About 16.9% of all the parents had PPD. The difference in the prevalence of PPD in three dimensions between the two groups were statistically significant (p &lt; 0.01): social dysfunction (25.8% for fathers vs. 5.6% for mothers), somatic disorders (21% for fathers vs. 7.3% for mothers), and anxiety (21% for fathers vs. 6.5% for mothers). The mode of delivery of the mothers and the level of education, the number of children, monthly income, and being consent with pregnancy among the fathers were significant predictors for PPD.CONCLUSION: The level of PPD was more prevalent among the new fathers compared to the new mothers. Among the fathers, but not the mothers, socioeconomic characteristics were contributed to PPD. Considering the differences in risk factors for maternal and paternal PPD, our findings may help family health care providers and policymakers in designing gender-specific intervention programs and diagnosis tools aimed at PPD prevention among new parents

Economic Burden of Epidermolysis Bullosa Disease in Iran

Background: Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is prevalent in Iran and incurs direct and indirect costs on the health care system and the patient.Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate the economic burden of this disease in Iran. Methods: Tins study includes all patients with EB disease who had been referred to the medical centers of Iran in 2019-2020 for treatment of their disease, especially Hazrat Fatimah Hospital and their medical records are available in Iran EB Patients Association (IEBPA). In estimating the economic burden of diseases and costing studies. wre calculated the average direct and indirect costs for a patient and used it to estimate the costs of the patient population. In this study, a prevalence approach was used to calculate the economic burden of this disease. For this purpose, the existing cases of the disease in 2019-2020 were calculated. The data collected from the questionnaires that were completed through interviews with patients as well as the data extracted from the review of their files were entered into Excel software and analyzed. Results: The total direct medical costs of direct non-medical and indirect are equal to 7.319.428.315 & 5.390.440.775 and 45.875.654.514 Rials respectively, and the total economic burden of the disease and the average of each patient is 58.585.514.604 and 155.890.789 respectively. Conclusion: High indirect costs, especially informal care, represent the socio-economic burden of this disease and constitute more than half of the total indirect costs. Therefore, the obvious gap and hidden social costs of this disease are related to health policymakers, especially when they want to study the impact of this disease on different income classes of families

Opium Induces Apoptosis in Jurkat Cells

Background: The direct effect of some opioids on immune cells has been demonstrated. The aim of this study was to assess the apoptotic effect of opium on Jurkat T lymphocyte cells. Methods: Different concentrations of opium (2.86 × 10-3 to 2.86 × 10-11 g/ml) were added to 24-well plates containing 5 × 105 Jurkat cells. Apoptotic events were assessed after 6, 24, and 72 hours by flow-cytometric detection of surface phosphatidylserine. Findings: Significant differences in apoptosis of Jurkat cells were seen at 24 and 72 hours in different concentrations of opium (P < 0.05). After 72 hours, significant increase in necrosis of Jurkat cells was seen in opium concentration of 2.85 × 10-3 g/ml compared to cells without opium (control) (P < 0.05). Conclusion: These results showed that opium directly increases apoptosis and necrosis of T lymphocytes. This effect may play a role in immune dysfunction in opium addicts.Keywords: Opium, Apoptosis, Necrosis, Jurkat cell

Toxic heavy metals and nutrient concentration in the milk of goat herds in two Iranian industrial and non-industrial zones

This work aimed to explore the concentration of nickel, manganese, iron, copper, chromium, and lead in the milk of goat herds in the industrial area of Asaluyeh (southern Iran) and the non-industrial area of Kaki. The milk of 16 goat herds (each herd had at least ten goats) was collected in several villages in each area, and at the same time, the drinking water and forage of goats were sampled. The concentration of elements in the samples was determined by ICP-OES. The mean concentrations of chromium, copper, iron, manganese, lead, and nickel in milk samples of the Asaluyeh area were 16.423 ± 0.349, 0.146 ± 0.118, 6.111 ± 0.501, 0.239 ± 0.016, 0.141 ± 0.030, and 1.447 ± 0.101 mg/kg, respectively. Concentrations of heavy metals (except for copper) in the milk of goats in the industrialized area of Asaluyeh were significantly higher than that of Kaki (P < 0.05). Also, the content of heavy metals was significantly correlated with lactose levels (P < 0.05). The hazard index for drinking the goat milk was computed to be 0.444 and 0.386 for the Asaluyeh and Kaki area, respectively, which shows a minimal effect of this exposure pathway

Common X-ray machine quality control in hospitals affiliated with Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences

Introduction and Aims: Diagnostic Radiology has the largest share in the artificial ionizing radiation sources in the society. One of the most important factors in reducing radiation dose is quality control and ensuring the quality and performance of radiology devices.Quality control is conducted to produce high-quality radiographic images with minimum radiation dose. Materials and Methods: Ten normal X-ray machines in 5 hospitals affiliated to Kurdistan university of Medical Sciences were studied. Then, 10 standard test of quality control were conducted based on the protocol recommended by the 74 report (quality control standards) American Association of Medical Physics (AAMP) and Report No. 103 of the International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP). Finally, data were statistically evaluated and the percentage of error of each parameter was compared with existing standards. Results: In some devices the overall filtration parameters&rsquo; error and voltage accuracy was higher than acceptable range and needed to be reformed. Also, in some devices the percentage of parameter error of radiation field compliance and light field was more than acceptable range based on the existing standards. Some devices in the province had boundary and threshold error. Conclusion: According to the recommendations of the Commission on Radiation Protection and Medical Physics Society of America, most of the parameters of the devices in question were in agreement with existing standards and were in acceptable rang

Chemical Properties and Sensory Evaluation of Probiotic Yoghurt Manufactured with Aqueous Extract of Aloe vera

In recent years, consumer demand for a new range of dairy products, including yoghurts, which have functional and designed sensory properties have increased. In the present research physicochemical, microbiological and sensory attributes of yogurts manufactured from cow milk with aqueous extract of Aloe vera and Lactobacillus casei before and after cold storage for different periods of time (1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 days) were investigated. Titrable acidity (TA) of examined yoghurts during storage period at 4°C increased and their pH decreased significantly (P<0.05). The percentages of Water Holding Capacity (WHC) and Syneresis of yoghurt samples through the 10 days storage period were significantly decreased and increased, respectively (P<0.05). Viability of L. casei was significantly higher in probiotic yoghurt samples than others with Aloe vera extract after the end storage time. Sensory evaluation of examined yoghurts showed that Aloe vera extract had no effect on sensory quality of probiotic yoghurt samples. It was concluded that probiotic yoghurt with 2.5% Aloe vera extract with low syneresis and high WHC had better physicochemical, microbiological and sensory properties in comparison with the other probiotic yoghurt samples