Exploring the effects of pre-task planning time on EFL learners' narrative writing

The present study is carried out in order to provide deeper insights into the differential effects of pre-task planning time conditions on Iranian EFL learners' narrative writing production (accuracy, fluency, and complexity). To this end, three intact classes comprising 70 EFL language learners, studying in private language institutes in Iran, were randomly assigned to either no pre-task planning, 5 minute pre-task planning or 10 minute pre-task planning conditions. Analysis of the written narratives and the results of a series of one-way ANOVA revealed that both 5 minute and 10 minute pre-task planning groups showed substantial progress compared to those in the no pre-task planning group regarding the accuracy, fluency and complexity of their output. The obtained results support the view that providing pre-task planning opportunities leads task performers to produce the kind of output which displays improved complexity, accuracy, and fluency. The results also have some implications for teachers and practitioners in EFL contexts.El present estudi es va dur a terme amb la finalitat de proporcionar informació sobre els efectes del temps de planificació prèvia a la tasca en l'escriptura narrativa d'aprenents d'anglès com a llengua estrangera iranians (precisió, fluïdesa i complexitat). Amb aquest objectiu, 70 estudiants de tres classes d'instituts d'idiomes privats a l'Iran van ser assignats a l'atzar a grups sense temps de planificació, amb 5 minuts de planificació o amb 10 minuts de planificació. L'anàlisi de les narratives escrites i els resultats de les anàlisis ANOVA unidireccionals van revelar que els grups que van tenir 5 o 10 minuts de planificació prèvia a la tasca van mostrar un progrés substancial en comparació amb el grup sense temps de planificació quant a la precisió, fluïdesa i complexitat de la seva producció. Els resultats obtinguts suggereixen que proporcionar oportunitats de planificació prèvia a la tasca resulta en millor complexitat, precisió i fluïdesa. Els resultats també tenen algunes implicacions per al professorat.El presente estudio se llevó a cabo con el fin de proporcionar información sobre los efectos del tiempo de planificación previa a la tarea en la escritura narrativa de estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera iraníes (precisión, fluidez y complejidad). Con este objetivo, 70 estudiantes de tres clases de institutos de idiomas privados en Irán fueron asignadas al azar a grupos sin tiempo de planificación, con 5 minutos de planificación o con 10 minutos de planificación. El análisis de las narrativas escritas y los resultados de los análisis ANOVA unidireccionales revelaron que los grupos que tuvieron 5 o 10 minutos de planificación previa a la tarea mostraron un progreso sustancial en comparación con el grupo sin tiempo de planificación en cuanto a la precisión, fluidez y complejidad de su producción. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que proporcionar oportunidades de planificación previa a la tarea resulta en mejor complejidad, precisión y fluidez. Los resultados también tienen algunas implicaciones para el profesorado.La présente étude a été réalisée afin de fournir des informations sur les effets du temps de planification préalable aux tâches sur l'écriture narrative des étudiants iraniens d'anglais langue seconde (précision, fluidité et complexité). À cette fin, 70 étudiants de trois classes des instituts de langue privés en Iran ont été assignés au hasard à des groupes sans temps de planification, 5 minutes de planification ou 10 minutes de planification. L'analyse des récits écrits et les résultats des analyses ANOVA unidirectionnelles ont révélé que les groupes qui avaient 5 ou 10 minutes de planification préalable aux tâches ont montré des progrès substantiels par rapport au groupe sans temps de planification en termes de précision, de fluidité et la complexité de sa production. Les résultats obtenus suggèrent que l'offre d'opportunités de planification pré-tâche se traduit par une meilleure complexité, précision et fluidité. Les résultats ont également des implications pour les enseignants

Cognitive Work Analysis to Support Collaboration in Teamwork Environments

Cognitive Work analysis (CWA) as an analytical approach for examining complex socio-technical systems has shown success in modeling the work of single operators. The CWA approach allows room for social and team interactions, but a more explicit analysis of team aspects can reveal more information for systems design. CWA techniques and models do not yet provide sufficient guidance on identifying shared constraints, team strategies, or social competencies of team players. In this thesis, I explore whether a team approach to CWA can yield more information than a typical CWA. Team CWA techniques and models emerge and extend from theories and models of teamwork, past attempts to model teams with CWA, and the results of two sets of observational studies. The potential benefits of using Team CWA models in domains with strong team collaboration are demonstrated through the results of a two-week observation at the Labour and Delivery Department of The Ottawa Hospital and a fifteen-week observation at the IBM Ottawa Software Group

بستر جغرافیایی نهضت قرامطه و تأثیر آن بر معادلات سیاسی در مناطق اسلامی

Background and Aim: Political and Social Movements, Whatever their Purpose and Motive, Are Rooted in the Real Developments of that Society, Including its Territorial and Geographical Conditions. For This Reason, The Existence of Facilitating Conditions or Obstacles Can be a Factor in the Spread or Non-Spread of the Ideas of any Movement or Social Movement. Materials and Methods: The Method Used in This Research is Descriptive-Analytical, Which Has Examined its Development as Well as its Political and Social Effects by Using Historical Sources, Documents and Libraries of Available Information About its Boundaries, Coordinates and Geographical Area. Findings: The Qaramata Movement Occupied Important and Strategic Areas of the Islamic World at the Time of the Spread of Shiite Ideas; And Was an Important Threat to the Abbasid Caliphate. the Movement's Leaders' Reliance on the Unjust Political and Social Conditions Against the Shiites and their Attention to Areas Where the Public Has Been More Inclined to Establish Justice and Oppression Are the Hallmarks of the Qaramata Movement. The Members and Leaders of the Qaramata Movement Developed their Political Ideas in Different Lands, Taking Into Account Their Geographical Advantages. Conclusion: From the Point of View of Political Geography, The Qarmatians Were Able to Challenge the Authority of the Abbasid Caliphate in a Wide Range of their Areas of Activity, Such as Iran, Shamat, and Iraq; However, in Some Other Areas of the Islamic World, they Enjoyed More Favorable Opportunities to Increase Their Power and Achieve Their Goals. Like Bahrain, Where the Government of the Qarmatians Was Formed and They Were Able to Take Advantage of the Conditions and Geographical Factors of These Regions. For This Reason, Qaramata is One of the Pioneers of Geopolitical Thought in the Islamic World Due to the Choice of Bahrain as a Place to Spread His Thought.   Please cite this article as: Ashoori M, Shadpour H, Ashrafi A. The Geographical Context of the Qaramata Movement and its Impact on Political Equations in Islamic Regions. Med Hist J, Special Issue on the History of Islam and Iran 2020; 43-55.زمینه و هدف: نهضت‌های سیاسی و اجتماعی با هر هدف و انگیزه‌ای که تأسیس شوند، ریشه در تحولات واقعی آن جامعه از جمله شرایط سرزمینی و جغرافیایی آن دارند. به همین دلیل وجود شرایط تسهیل‌کننده و یا موانع می‌تواند عاملی برای گسترش و یا عدم گسترش اندیشه‌های هر نهضت و یا جنبش اجتماعی باشد. مواد و روش‌ها: روش مورد استفاده در این پژوهش توصیفی ـ تحلیلی است که با بهره‌گیری از منابع تاریخی، اسنادی و کتابخانه‌ای اطلاعات موجود درباره قرامطه، مختصات و حیطه جغرافیایی گسترش آن و همچنین آثار سیاسی و اجتماعی آن را مورد بررسی قرار داده است. یافته‌ها: نهضت قرامطه در زمان گسترش اندیشه‌های شیعی، مناطق مهم و استراتژیک جهان اسلام را در دست گرفته بود؛ و خطر مهمی برای خلافت عباسی محسوب می‌شد. تکیه رهبران نهضت بر شرایط ناعادلانه سیاسی و اجتماعی بر علیه شیعیان و توجه به مناطقی که اقبال عمومی در آنان برای برقراری عدالت و ظلم‌ستیزی بیشتر بوده است، مختصات نهضت قرامطه را تشکیل می‌دهند. اعضا و رهبران نهضت قرامطه با در نظر گرفتن مزیت‌های جغرافیایی، اندیشه‌های سیاسی خود را در سرزمین‌های مختلف بسط می‌دادند.   نتیجه‌گیری: از منظر جغرافیای سیاسی، قرمطیان در گستره وسیعی از مناطق فعالیت خود مانندِ ایران، شامات، عراق، توانستند اقتدار خلافت عباسیان را به چالش بکشانند؛ لیکن، در برخی دیگر از نواحی بلاد اسلامی، از فرصت‌های مساعدتری برای افزایش قدرت و تحقق اهداف خود بهره‌مند بودند، مانند بحرین که دولت مورد نظر قرمطیان هم تشکیل شد و توانستند از شرایط و عوامل جغرافیایی این مناطق به نفع خود بهره ببرند. از این جهت، قرامطه به دلیل انتخاب بحرین به عنوان مکان گسترش اندیشه خویش، از پیشگامان اندیشه ژئوپولوتیکی در جهان اسلام به شمار می‌رود

A model to predict the sequential behavior of healthy blood donors using data mining

This article has no abstract

Intelligent pedagogical agents for personalizing learning objects in educational environments

A key issue in pedagogy is individualization, i.e., adapting the teaching to the needs of various learners. In many cases, however, current e-learning systems have so far focused most on porting existing courses with traditional teaching methods onto the web/grid environments, just making non-individualized teaching even more widely available. The majority of current e-learning systems treat every user equally with out any fine-tuning at the learning objects. This research proposes a combination of pedagogical achievements and intelligent agents toward developing such personalized learning spaces and improving the effectiveness of learning achievements through an interactive learning environment. The presented intelligent technology has potential regarding the creation of more intelligent, personalized, adaptive and interactive e-learning applications, providing individualization and therefore enhancing the effects of learning. The proposed approach, however, is not limited to e-learning systems. This idea can be applied to a wide variety of application domains where personalizing the content could improve the performance. This Research is part of the project of "Agent Augmented Virtual Environment" which explores agent augmented immersive virtual and mixed world to develop and as- sess immersive/situated learning environments. It collaborates with the National Science Foundation funded project, "Multi-User virtual Environments (MUVEs)" at Harvard. The whole project is to study (1) immersive/situated learning and (2) the ways in which agent augmented virtual environments may aid the transfer of learning from classroom contexts into real world settings. The research team of MUVE at Harvard developed the "River City" curriculum, teams of middle school students are asked to collaboratively solve a simulated 19th century city's problems with illness, through interaction with each others, avatars, digital artifacts, tacit clues, and computer-based agents acting as mentors and colleagues in a virtual community of practice. The research team at NTU focuses on software agents, multi-agent system, and agent augmented virtual and mixed environment. The team targets to infuse agent technology into various environments and application domains e.g. agent augmented virtual reality and mixed reality etc. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the NTU team and Harvard team collaborate with each other to explore agent mediated situated learning environment and agent mediated learning community. Precisely speaking, this approach is toward an effective negotiation protocol among self-interested mentors of an agent augmented virtual environment, Virtual Singapura, for personalizing learning process and thereafter maximizing learning achievements. The synthetic characters in this environment are augmented with advanced agent technologies in order to investigate contextual, situational, social, and emotional dimensions of virtual experiences for learning. This research is to develop an e ective individualization in order to providing highly accurate personalized guides according to the student's background. Agent society is equipped by situation and location awareness which let the agents track the students during the whole process of learning. Specifically, proposed approach is an inspiration of the main concept of pricing in market-based systems combined with the belief accumulation of Dempster-Shafer theory to develop a rational society of self motivated agents who provide personalized helps for learners over the learning environment. Assessments illustrated that students who use this multiuser virtual environment can construct deep understandings of scientific concepts and develop science inquiry skills, as well as the ability to transfer or apply their new knowledge and skills to new situations. In between, personalization has performed an effective role which has highly improved the learner performance in addition to make the students find agents as believable as virtual mentors.MASTER OF ENGINEERING (SCE

The relationship between visfatin levels and Anthropometric parameters, and insulin resistance in women with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes

Background: Visfatin is a&nbsp;protein&nbsp;secreted by&nbsp;visceral fat, which plays&nbsp;an important role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Visfatin is also known as Pre-B Cell Colony Enhancing Factor or Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyl Transferase.&nbsp; Visfatin is widely&nbsp;expressed in the visceral adipose tissue and has insulin-like metabolic functions. However, its pathophysiological role in human is still unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between plasma visfatin and obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 50 women with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, and 50 healthy women. Visfatin and insulin levels were measured using a Mercodia ELISA kit (Mercodia Company, Sweden). The weight, height, waist circumference and FBS were determined using standard methods. Data was analyzed using&nbsp;SPSS software (Version 19). Results: According to the data, plasma visfatin levels increased in patients with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes compared to the control group (p<0/05). There was a meaningful correlation between visfatin and BMI, weight, waist circumference and HOMA-IR (p<0/05). No correlation was found between visfatin and FBS, and insulin in patients with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Conclusion: These results suggest that visfatin levels correlate with BMI, weight, and waist circumference, and can be used as a marker for the diagnosis and treatment of type 2 diabetes

The role of gender in conversational dominance: A study of EFL learners

Gender differences have always been controversial in pragmatics. This article reports on a study that examined the role of gender in the quality of conversational dominance in informal conversation by focusing on Persian EFL learners. To this end, both quantitative and qualitative conversational data from 10 Iranian dyads were analyzed. In this study, conversational dominance is defined as one speaker’s tendency to control the other speaker’s conversational actions over the course of an interaction. Since the norms of speaking are strongly affected by gender, both male and female Iranian learners are constrained to gender-specific modes of interaction. The findings of this study revealed that women show greater acceptance in conversation and due to this feature they try to have more facilitative role in conversation, and men try to maintain dominance over topic by showing more assertive mode during stages of topic development and maintenance. Men by using different strategies like interrupting women, topic shifting, asking questions and raising topics, criticizing and engaging in conflict, and silence try to keep dominance over the conversation. Furthermore, men by being more self-oriented and women by being more other-oriented show varying degrees of dominance over the conversation. The implications of our findings for the use of dominance strategies to take the field of conversation in the EFL context are discussed

Exploring the effects of pre-task planning time on EFL learners' narrative writing

The present study is carried out in order to provide deeper insights into the differential effects of pre-task planning time conditions on Iranian EFL learners' narrative writing production (accuracy, fluency, and complexity). To this end, three intact classes comprising 70 EFL language learners, studying in private language institutes in Iran, were randomly assigned to either no pre-task planning, 5 minute pre-task planning or 10 minute pre-task planning conditions. Analysis of the written narratives and the results of a series of one-way ANOVA revealed that both 5 minute and 10 minute pre-task planning groups showed substantial progress compared to those in the no pre-task planning group regarding the accuracy, fluency and complexity of their output. The obtained results support the view that providing pre-task planning opportunities leads task performers to produce the kind of output which displays improved complexity, accuracy, and fluency. The results also have some implications for teachers and practitioners in EFL contexts.El present estudi es va dur a terme amb la finalitat de proporcionar informació sobre els efectes del temps de planificació prèvia a la tasca en l'escriptura narrativa d'aprenents d'anglès com a llengua estrangera iranians (precisió, fluïdesa i complexitat). Amb aquest objectiu, 70 estudiants de tres classes d'instituts d'idiomes privats a l'Iran van ser assignats a l'atzar a grups sense temps de planificació, amb 5 minuts de planificació o amb 10 minuts de planificació. L'anàlisi de les narratives escrites i els resultats de les anàlisis ANOVA unidireccionals van revelar que els grups que van tenir 5 o 10 minuts de planificació prèvia a la tasca van mostrar un progrés substancial en comparació amb el grup sense temps de planificació quant a la precisió, fluïdesa i complexitat de la seva producció. Els resultats obtinguts suggereixen que proporcionar oportunitats de planificació prèvia a la tasca resulta en millor complexitat, precisió i fluïdesa. Els resultats també tenen algunes implicacions per al professorat.El presente estudio se llevó a cabo con el fin de proporcionar información sobre los efectos del tiempo de planificación previa a la tarea en la escritura narrativa de estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera iraníes (precisión, fluidez y complejidad). Con este objetivo, 70 estudiantes de tres clases de institutos de idiomas privados en Irán fueron asignadas al azar a grupos sin tiempo de planificación, con 5 minutos de planificación o con 10 minutos de planificación. El análisis de las narrativas escritas y los resultados de los análisis ANOVA unidireccionales revelaron que los grupos que tuvieron 5 o 10 minutos de planificación previa a la tarea mostraron un progreso sustancial en comparación con el grupo sin tiempo de planificación en cuanto a la precisión, fluidez y complejidad de su producción. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que proporcionar oportunidades de planificación previa a la tarea resulta en mejor complejidad, precisión y fluidez. Los resultados también tienen algunas implicaciones para el profesorado.La présente étude a été réalisée afin de fournir des informations sur les effets du temps de planification préalable aux tâches sur l'écriture narrative des étudiants iraniens d'anglais langue seconde (précision, fluidité et complexité). À cette fin, 70 étudiants de trois classes des instituts de langue privés en Iran ont été assignés au hasard à des groupes sans temps de planification, 5 minutes de planification ou 10 minutes de planification. L'analyse des récits écrits et les résultats des analyses ANOVA unidirectionnelles ont révélé que les groupes qui avaient 5 ou 10 minutes de planification préalable aux tâches ont montré des progrès substantiels par rapport au groupe sans temps de planification en termes de précision, de fluidité et la complexité de sa production. Les résultats obtenus suggèrent que l'offre d'opportunités de planification pré-tâche se traduit par une meilleure complexité, précision et fluidité. Les résultats ont également des implications pour les enseignants

The comparison between the serum level of interleukin-6 in women with acute ovarian torsion and other causes of lower abdominal pain

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of serum Interleukin-6 (IL-6) as a predictive value to make decision for surgical interventions when ovarian torsion (OT) is suspected. This study was performed on 284 women with lower abdominal pain. IL-6 levels were compared between OT (n = 67, 23.6%) and control groups (n = 217, 76.4%). For the purpose of diagnosis of OT, sensitivity and specificity of IL-6 at the cut-off point of 9.6 pg/ml were 41.79 and 82.49%, respectively. Patients with ovarian masses on ultrasound and IL-6 >9.6 pg/ml were found to be 24 times more likely to develop OT. Patients with serum IL-6 >9.6 pg/ml who lacked blood flow in ovarian Doppler ultrasound had 40.75 times higher risk of developing OT. It seems that simultaneous use of Doppler ultrasound and serum IL-6 levels can be helpful for early diagnosis of OT and making decision for surgical intervention