The Impact of Cultural Factors in Learning and Education on Iranian EFL Learners

The aim of the present study is to investigate the potential effects cultural factors in learning and Education on Iranian EFL learner both in terms of their attitudes towards the cultural factors and their listening comprehension. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods was applied with 64 students. Learning logs, treatment, close ended questionnaires were the means of data collections. The result of data analysis indicated that the researcher's treatment proved to be effective but in varying degrees with different participants. On the basis of the results obtained. It is strongly recommended that foreign language teacher consider. The cultural factors and employ specific teaching techniques that can improve student's English abilities

Decision Support System For Desertification Control Through Floodwater Spreading In Islamic Republic Of Iran

Floods and droughts have resulted accelerated land degradations in Iran. Land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas is desertification and more than 90% of Iran's area is classified as arid or semi-arid with 43% being susceptible to land degradation. Different forms of floodwater storage have been proposed as solutions that not only reduce flood damages in wet years but also decrease undesirable effects of water shortage during droughts. Floodwater spreading (FWS) is one of the most logical solution for desertification control (DEC) in Iran. FWS increases soil moisture, improves vegetation cover, and diminishes flood-related damages. The FWS requires diligent planning and as such, site selection is expected to be the foremost priority. Decision Support System (DSS) is a new approach capable of facilitating selection and planning of the most appropriate sites for FWS. To identify the optimum diagnostic problems, updated situation and achievements of 37 FWS research stations all over Iran were investigated. Some of the stations (11 of them) with more reliable data that represent the diversity of Iran's climate, morphological zones, and soil types were chosen. From these investigations, 21 new effective factors were defined and the data required for data-base and knowledgebase components of the DSS were gathered. In order to adopt the DSS to FWS conditions, multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA), weighted summation, and expected value methods were selected for ranking, appraising, and weighting, respectively. Validity of DECFWS, a certain DSS developed for Desertification Control through Flood Water Spreading, was tested by 1) comparing results with vegetation results of implemented scenarios at FWS research stations, and 2) comparing with results of land suitability evaluation for controlled alternatives based on USDA 2003 method. The latest version, DECFWS 3.31, was developed under Visual Basic that can help decision makers with presenting the: the most appropriate alternative for a chosen scenario, the most reasonable scenario for each alternative, the alternative with the highest benefit-to-cost ratio, the most appropriate alternative in general (for several scenarios), the irrelevant alternatives, and the uncertainty analysis in ranking. Some advantages of this DSS are: accurate assessment, targeted evaluation and ranking, rapid appraisal, low cost, ease of application, flexible to variations, helpful in presenting irrelevant alternatives, executable despite data scarcity, editable in report presenting, assessing effects score uncertainty, precision in ranking, exact in converting qualitative to quantitative data. Results of this dissertation demonstrate the ability of DSS to solve unstructured problems and yield a variety of alternatives in dry regions. It prompts soil scientists interested in land and environmental managements to become familiar with DSS and its application for sustainable managements, especially under fragile circumstances. However, more comprehensive researches on DEC and new emerging technologies (such as the one used in this thesis) are needed to help conserve the degrading land

Study of high energy particles in extensive air showers

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A theoretical reasoning on why coordination catalysts supported on mesoporous supports produce HDPE crystalline nanofibers but not iPP crystalline nanofibers

Since 1999, when Takuzo Aida proposed the preparation of high density polyethylene (HDPE) crystalline nanofibers through polymerization of ethylene by a Cp2 TiCl2 /MCM-41 catalyst, many researchers have published various papers on different aspects of the idea. The published researches show that the endeavors to polymerize other types of alpha olefins, especially propylene, to obtain polyolefins with crystalline nanofiberous morphology have not been successful and no one has reported such morphology for them. In the present article, a possible reason behind these observations is proposed. Comparing the direction of the growth of HDPE chains and isotactic polypropylene (iPP) helices to become appropriate for making polymer crystals shows that HDPE chains are able to form crystal unit cells without concerning upward or downward chain growth direction, while the growth direction of adjacent iPP chains might be responsible for unsuccessful synthesis of crystalline iPP nanofibers in confined channels of the mesoporous catalysts. iPP helices can crystallize beside each other only in the form of anticline isochiral helices

Inferior Spear-like Lens Opacity as a Sign of Keratoconus

Purpose: To report 21 cases of typical inferior feather-shape lens opacity associated with keratoconus. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the association of keratoconus with inferior feather-shape lens opacity in refractive surgery candidates. Visual acuity, demographic, refractive, and topographic characteristics of 26 eyes of 21 patients with inferior feather-shape lens opacity were evaluated in detail. Pedigree analysis was also performed to assess possible inheritance. Results: Overall, 2122 out of 33,368 cases (6.4%) without lens opacity had keratoconus, while 20 out of 21 patients (95.2%) with peculiar lens opacity had definite keratoconus (P < 0.001). Lens opacity was bilateral in 5 cases (24%), and keratoconus was bilateral in all 20 patients with lens opacity. Nine eyes out of thirty-six with a complete data record (25%) had severe keratoconus and underwent deep lamellar keratoplasty, while 11 (31%) had forme fruste keratoconus. Pedigrees were drawn for eight patients, most families of whom suggested an X-linked recessive inheritance. Conclusion: The present study was the first to investigate patients with a peculiar inferior feather-shape lens opacity accompanied by bilateral keratoconus, which was observed in 95% of the patients. This finding should raise awareness as to the possibility of diagnosing keratoconus in the eyes of the patients with these characteristics

Therapeutic Effect of Intrastromal Voriconazole, Topical Voriconazole, and Topical Natamycin on Fusarium

Purpose. Evaluating the therapeutic effect of topical and intrastromal voriconazole and topical natamycin on Fusarium keratitis. Methods. 24 rabbits were selected. The stroma of their corneas was inoculated with suspension of Fusarium solani species complex. Seven days after injection they were divided into 4 groups randomly: the first group was treated with topical voriconazole (TV) 1% for one week, the second one with one-time intrastromal injection of voriconazole (ISV) 50 microgram/0.1 mL, and the third group with topical gel of natamycin (TN) for one week, and the last one did not receive any antifungal treatment. Finally the eyes were enucleated and sclerocorneal buttons were sent for histological and microbiological examinations. Results. After treatment the ISV group and TN group showed significantly lower clinical score and colony forming units than the control group (P=0.040 and P=0.026, resp.), but there was statistically no significant difference between control and TV groups (P=0.249) or between ISV and TN groups (P=0.665). In pathological evaluation, fewer chronic inflammations were reported in 2 of the 3 buttons from TV group and 3 of the 3 buttons from ISV and TN groups in comparison with the control group. Conclusion. Intrastromal injection of voriconazole seems to be effective in treatment of Fusarium keratitis as much as topical natamycin and these are more effective than topical voriconazole

Study of Ziegler-Natta/(2-PhInd)2ZrCl2 hybrid catalysts performance in slurry propylene polymerization

Several types of hybrid catalysts are made through mixing of 4th generation Ziegler-Natta (ZN) and (2-PhInd)2ZrCl2  metallocene catalysts using triethylaluminum (TEA) as coupling agent. Response surface methodology (RSM) is used to evaluate the interactive effects of different parameters including amounts of metallocene and TEA and temperature on metallocene loading. Analyzing the amounts of Al and Zr elements in the hybrid catalysts through ICP-OES and EDXA reveals that temperature plays a crucial role on anchoring of the metallocene catalyst on ZN while TEA has the least determining effect. The ICP analysis shows that as the concentration of Al goes up in the hybrid catalyst the concentration of Zr passes a maximum, while EDXA shows a direct relationship between the Al and Zr contents. Using triisobutylaluminum (TIBA) and methylaluminoxane (MAO) as the coupling agents, almost similar metallocene loadings are observed. Finally, the performance of hybrid catalysts is investigated in propylene polymerization and the obtained polymers are characterized using DSC and DMTA through which the presence of two types of polymers in the final product are confirmed