Developing a Multiliteracies Pedagogy in Mature Female English Language Learners In Iran

This study investigates how the formal teaching and learning theory of multiliteracies serves mature female English Language Learners in Iran. A multiliteracies approach aims to influence the impact of the dramatically changing social and technological contexts of communication and learning and the potential contribution of a multimodal approach to adult language teaching and learning in the educational context. Data collection and analysis included collaborative researcher and teacher-participant lesson planning, 3 curriculum intervention workshops, observation and field notes, document analysis, and in-depth interviews to explore the English language development of the adult female participants of this research. This research provided the participants with the opportunity to engage with multiliteracies pedagogy designed to meet the specific learning needs of adult female English Language Learners (ELLs). The study unexpectedly found the more mature females were more engaged than their younger counterparts in workshop activities

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Complications of Mandibular Third Molar Surgery

Background: Surgical extraction of third molar is one of the most common surgeries performed by maxillofacial surgeons. This study was aimed to assess the incidence of complications after surgical removal of mandibular third molar and their risk factors.Materials and methods: This study was performed prospectively. Patients referred to the School of Dentistry for the surgical removal of mandibular third molar were included. Surgical time, number and form of roots, as well as demographic data was recorded. 24 hours later occurrence of complications including bleeding, swelling, pain, trismus, paresthesia and fracture were assessed. The frequency of reported complications, as well as the influence of risk factors was analyzed.Results: A total of 101 patients with a mean age of 22.95±1.93 years were included. All patients showed mouth opening limitation, pain and swelling. Two cases had paresthesia (1.98%) and 31 cases (30.7%) complained of excessive bleeding. The average postoperative pain based on visual analogue scale was 4.01±0.76. Pain was lower in men. Trismus and bleeding was less in teeth with conical root compared to teeth with separate roots. In addition, it was shown that the teeth with more roots had higher occurrence of pain, swelling, trismus and bleeding. All of the complications increased with increasing surgical time.Conclusion: Considering the high prevalence of complications following wisdom tooth surgery, in order to control them, it is necessary to be aware of the risk factors and inform patients

Comparison of pH and Viscosity of Unstimulated Saliva in Type 2 Diabetic Patients and Control Group

Objectives: Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic diseases that may cause irreversible complications. This disease can affect the salivary glands and oral health. Among physical and chemical alterations, changes in the pH and viscosity of saliva are particularly important. The aim of this study was to compare the pH and viscosity of unstimulated saliva in diabetic patients and non-diabetic controls.Methods: In the present case-control study, three groups consisted of 36 controlled type 2 diabetic patients, 36 uncontrolled type 2 diabetic patients and 36 healthy controls were recruited and matched by age and sex. Their unstimulated cumulative saliva was collected for five minutes by the spitting method and the pH of samples was measured by a digital pH meter. The viscosity of saliva samples was assessed by comparing the sample displacement rate with that of control fluids at mm/10 seconds. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20 via ANOVA and Bonferroni multiple comparisons test. P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: A significant inverse correlation was found between the saliva pH and hyperglycemia (P<0.0001). A significant relationship was noted between viscosity and severity of diabetes mellitus (P<0.0001). The pH of saliva in uncontrolled diabetic patients was significantly lower than that of controlled type 2 diabetic patients and non-diabetic control group (P<0.05). The viscosity of saliva in diabetic patients with well and poorly controlled hyperglycemia was more than that of the control group (P<0.009 and P<0.0001, respectively).Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus causes a reduction in saliva pH and increases the viscosity of saliva, which can cause qualitative and quantitative changes in the saliva and oral health

Analyze and Rebuild an Apparatus to Gauge Evaporative Cooling Effectiveness of Micro-Porous Barriers.

The sample used for evaporative cooling system is Fabric defender 750 with Shelltite finish. From the experimental data and equations we have diffusion coefficient of 20.9 ± 3.71 x 10-6 m2/s for fabric with one layer with 17%-20% fluctuations from the theory, 27.8 ± 4.5 x 10-6 m2/s for fabric with two layers with 6%-14% fluctuations from the theory and 24.9 ± 4.1 x 10-6 m2/s for fabric with three layers with 13%-16% fluctuations from the theory. Since the thickness of the fabric increases so the mass transport rate decreases so the mass transport resistance should be increases. The intrinsic mass resistances of Fabri-1L, Fabri-2L and Fabri-3L are respectively 104 ± 10.2 s/m, 154 ± 23 s/m and 206 ± 26 s/m from the experiment

Model-free neural network-based predictive control for robust operation of power converters

An accurate definition of a system model significantly affects the performance of model-based control strategies, for example, model predictive control (MPC). In this paper, a model-free predictive control strategy is presented to mitigate all ramifications of the model’s uncertainties and parameter mismatch between the plant and controller for the control of power electronic converters in applications such as microgrids. A specific recurrent neural network structure called state-space neural network (ssNN) is proposed as a model-free current predictive control for a three-phase power converter. In this approach, NN weights are updated through particle swarm optimization (PSO) for faster convergence. After the training process, the proposed ssNN-PSO combined with the predictive controller using a performance criterion overcomes parameter variations in the physical system. A comparison has been carried out between the conventional MPC and the proposed model-free predictive control in different scenarios. The simulation results of the proposed control scheme exhibit more robustness compared to the conventional finite-control-set MPC

Frequency-constrained energy and reserve scheduling in wind incorporated low-inertia power systems considering vanadium flow redox batteries

This paper proposes a novel energy and reserve scheduling model for power systems with high penetration of wind turbines (WTs). The objective of the proposed model is to minimize the total operation cost of the system while static and dynamic security is guaranteed by preserving the frequency nadir, RoCoF, and quasi-steady-state frequency in the predefined range. Likewise, a supervisory, control, and data acquisition (SCADA) system is developed which allows Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (VRFBs) to continuously communicate and participate in the primary frequency response. To cope with the uncertainties, adaptive information gap decision theory is used that ensures a target operating cost for the risk-averse operator of the power system. The proposed scheduling model is applied on a modified IEEE 39 bus test system to verify the impacts of the fast reserve provided by the VRFBs in the dynamic frequency security enhancement of the power system with high penetration of WTs