Exploring Effective Foreign Language Teaching from the Eyes of Iranian Learners: Reporting a Qualitative Interview Study

This article reports on a qualitative study of the learners’ beliefs about effective foreign language teaching in an Iranian setting. A semi-structured interview covering several fundamental issues in foreign language (FL) pedagogy was conducted with 22 upper-intermediate Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Qualitative content analysis of the transcript data yielded several interesting and informative themes. Among the most prominent results of the study, mention can be made of learners’ strong penchant for modern, learner-centered approaches to FL teaching such as communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based language teaching (TBLT). Among the other notable themes were learners’ endorsement of teachers’ high proficiency and pedagogical knowledge, positive teacher personality, the integration of culture teaching in the classes, and sustaining learner interest and motivation. The results have implications for knowledge-based teacher education as well as for practicing and prospective FL teachers

Wild Relatives of Wheat Respond Well to Water Deficit Stress : A Comparative Study of Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Their Encoding Gene Expression

Previous studies have revealed that some wild wheat accessions respond well to water deficit treatments and have a good potential in terms of photosynthetic parameters, root system architecture, and several physiological properties. However, the biochemical responses and molecular mechanisms of antioxidant-encoding genes remain to be elucidated. Herein, we investigated the most tolerant accessions fromA. crassa,Ae. tauschii, andAe. cylindricapreviously identified from a core collection in previous studies, along with a control variety of bread wheat (T. aestivumcv. Sirvan) through measuring the shoot fresh and dry biomasses; the activities of antioxidant enzymes (including ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), and peroxidase (POD)); and the relative expression ofCAT, superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), andGPXandAPXgenes under control and water deficit conditions. Water deficit stress caused a significant decrease in the shoot biomasses but resulted in an increase in the activity of all antioxidant enzymes and relative expression of antioxidant enzyme-encoding genes. Principal component analysis showed a strong association between the shoot dry biomass and the activity of CAT, POD, and APX, as well asMnSODgene expression. Thus, these traits can be used as biomarkers to screen the tolerant plant material in the early growth stage. Taken together, our findings exposed the fact thatAe. tauschiiandAe. crassarespond better to water deficit stress thanAe. cylindricaand a control variety. Furthermore, these accessions can be subjected to further molecular investigation.Peer reviewe

Microleakage of cervical cavities prepared by an Er:YAG laser or a high-speed handpiece, after restoration using resin composite

Objectives The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the microleakage of cervical cavities prepared by Er:YAG laser or high-speed hand piece and bur.Methods This in vitro experimental study was performed on 40 sound permanent third molar teeth randomly assigned into two equal groups (n = 20). In the first group, high-speed hand piece and bur and in the second group Er:YAG laser was used to prepare class V cavities on the buccal or lingual surfaces. Filtek Z250 composite resin was used as the restorative material. The teeth were thermocycled for 1000 cycles, placed in 2% methylene blue solution for 24 hours, sectioned at the center of restoration and evaluated under a stereomicroscope at x40 magnification for microleakage. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test at 0.05 level of significance.Results There was no significant difference between the occlusal or gingival margin microleakage of cavities prepared with Er:YAG laser and high-speed hand piece (P = 0.445 and P = 0.758, respectively). However, the difference in the occlusal and gingival margins was significant within the high-speed hand piece (P = 0.042) and Er:YAG laser (P = 0.002) groups.Conclusion Cavity preparation by Er:YAG laser and high speed hand piece and bur is not significantly different in terms of microleakage

The Effect of Oral Triiodothyronine in Outcome of Pediatric Congenital Cardiac Surgery

Background: Cardiac surgery especially in small children is associated with a marked decrease in thyroid hormone levels consistent with the phenomenon referred to as Sick Euthyroid Syndrome (SES). The purpose of the present study was to determine if oral triiodothyronine could reduce the length of ICU stay, vasoactive inotropic score (VIS), and promote ejection fraction in infants and children undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB. Materials and Methods: In a double-blind clinical trial, one hundred and twenty children aged 6 to 60 months and scheduled for different types of cardiac surgery with CPB, were randomized into two groups to receive either 2 mcg/Kg triiodothyronine (trial group) or 5% dextrose water (placebo group), immediately after anesthesia and 24 hours after surgery. The perioperative serum thyroid hormone levels and hemodynamic variables were determined. The intubation time, ICU stay length, ICU inotropic use, and cardiac ejection fraction was recorded. Results: The basic demographic data were comparable in two groups. No significant side effects or adverse reactions were seen due to hormone therapy. Intubation time, ICU stay, and VIS values were significantly shorter between the two groups. Conclusion: In children undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB, perioperative oral small-dose triiodothyronine therapy could improve clinical indices of perioperative care

Quantitative Assessment of Intra- and Inter-Modality Deformable Image Registration of the Heart, Left Ventricle, and Thoracic Aorta on Longitudinal 4D-CT and MR Images

Purpose Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based investigations into radiotherapy (RT)-induced cardiotoxicity require reliable registrations of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to planning computed tomography (CT) for correlation to regional dose. In this study, the accuracy of intra- and inter-modality deformable image registration (DIR) of longitudinal four-dimensional CT (4D-CT) and MR images were evaluated for heart, left ventricle (LV), and thoracic aorta (TA). Methods and materials Non-cardiac-gated 4D-CT and T1 volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination (T1-VIBE) MRI datasets from five lung cancer patients were obtained at two breathing phases (inspiration/expiration) and two time points (before treatment and 5 weeks after initiating RT). Heart, LV, and TA were manually contoured. Each organ underwent three intramodal DIRs ((A) CT modality over time, (B) MR modality over time, and (C) MR contrast effect at the same time) and two intermodal DIRs ((D) CT/MR multimodality at same time and (E) CT/MR multimodality over time). Hausdorff distance (HD), mean distance to agreement (MDA), and Dice were evaluated and assessed for compliance with American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group (TG)-132 recommendations. Results Mean values of HD, MDA, and Dice under all registration scenarios for each region of interest ranged between 8.7 and 16.8 mm, 1.0 and 2.6 mm, and 0.85 and 0.95, respectively, and were within the TG-132 recommended range (MDA \u3c 3 mm, Dice \u3e 0.8). Intramodal DIR showed slightly better results compared to intermodal DIR. Heart and TA demonstrated higher registration accuracy compared to LV for all scenarios except for HD and Dice values in Group A. Significant differences for each metric and tissue of interest were noted between Groups B and D and between Groups B and E. MDA and Dice significantly differed between LV and heart in all registrations except for MDA in Group E. Conclusions DIR of the heart, LV, and TA between non-cardiac-gated longitudinal 4D-CT and MRI across two modalities, breathing phases, and pre/post-contrast is acceptably accurate per AAPM TG-132 guidelines. This study paves the way for future evaluation of RT-induced cardiotoxicity and its related factors using multimodality DIR

Wild Relatives of Wheat Respond Well to Water Deficit Stress: A Comparative Study of Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Their Encoding Gene Expression

Previous studies have revealed that some wild wheat accessions respond well to water deficit treatments and have a good potential in terms of photosynthetic parameters, root system architecture, and several physiological properties. However, the biochemical responses and molecular mechanisms of antioxidant-encoding genes remain to be elucidated. Herein, we investigated the most tolerant accessions from A. crassa, Ae. tauschii, and Ae. cylindrica previously identified from a core collection in previous studies, along with a control variety of bread wheat (T. aestivum cv. Sirvan) through measuring the shoot fresh and dry biomasses; the activities of antioxidant enzymes (including ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), and peroxidase (POD)); and the relative expression of CAT, superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), and GPX and APX genes under control and water deficit conditions. Water deficit stress caused a significant decrease in the shoot biomasses but resulted in an increase in the activity of all antioxidant enzymes and relative expression of antioxidant enzyme-encoding genes. Principal component analysis showed a strong association between the shoot dry biomass and the activity of CAT, POD, and APX, as well as MnSOD gene expression. Thus, these traits can be used as biomarkers to screen the tolerant plant material in the early growth stage. Taken together, our findings exposed the fact that Ae. tauschii and Ae. crassa respond better to water deficit stress than Ae. cylindrica and a control variety. Furthermore, these accessions can be subjected to further molecular investigation

Effect of Water Deficit Stress on Seedling Biomass and Physio-Chemical Characteristics in Different Species of Wheat Possessing the D Genome

Wild relatives of wheat serve as an extraordinary source of variability for breeding programs due to their capabilities to respond to various environmental stresses. Here, we investigated some species possessing a D genome (T. aestivum, Ae. tauschii, Ae. crassa and Ae. cylindrica) in terms of relative water content (RWC), stomatal conductance (Gs), relative chlorophyll content, initial fluorescence (Fo), maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm), maximum primary yield of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fo), as well as shoot fresh and dry biomasses under control and water deficit conditions. Our results revealed that water deficit negatively affected all traits; shoot fresh weight, Gs and RWC showed the highest reduction compared to the control condition. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified two PCs that accounted for 53.36% of the total variation in the water deficit conditions. Correlation analysis and PCA-based biplots showed that stress tolerance index (STI) is significantly associated with Fv/Fm and Fv/Fo under water stress conditions, suggesting that these are the best parameters to evaluate when screening for tolerant samples at the seedling stage. We identified 19 accessions from Ae. crassa and one from Ae. tauschii as the most tolerant samples. In conclusion, Ae. crassa might provide an ideal genetic resource for drought-tolerant wheat breeds

Effect of Water Deficit Stress on Seedling Biomass and Physio-Chemical Characteristics in Different Species of Wheat Possessing the D Genome

Wild relatives of wheat serve as an extraordinary source of variability for breeding programs due to their capabilities to respond to various environmental stresses. Here, we investigated some species possessing a D genome (T. aestivum, Ae. tauschii, Ae. crassa and Ae. cylindrica) in terms of relative water content (RWC), stomatal conductance (Gs), relative chlorophyll content, initial fluorescence (Fo), maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm), maximum primary yield of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fo), as well as shoot fresh and dry biomasses under control and water deficit conditions. Our results revealed that water deficit negatively affected all traits; shoot fresh weight, Gs and RWC showed the highest reduction compared to the control condition. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified two PCs that accounted for 53.36% of the total variation in the water deficit conditions. Correlation analysis and PCA-based biplots showed that stress tolerance index (STI) is significantly associated with Fv/Fm and Fv/Fo under water stress conditions, suggesting that these are the best parameters to evaluate when screening for tolerant samples at the seedling stage. We identified 19 accessions from Ae. crassa and one from Ae. tauschii as the most tolerant samples. In conclusion, Ae. crassa might provide an ideal genetic resource for drought-tolerant wheat breeds

Molecular diversity and phytochemical variability in the Iranian poppy (Papaver bracteatum Lindl.): A baseline for conservation and utilization in future breeding programmes

In the present investigation, 72 accessions of the Iranian poppy (Papaver bracteatum Lindl.) were analyzed for genetic diversity and population structure using start codon targeted polymorphism (SCoT) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers along with four important phytochemical traits to provide baseline knowledge for the Iranian poppy’s breeding and conservation plans. Twelve ISSR and thirteen SCoT primers generated a total of 98 and 186 fragments with a mean of 8.17 and 14.31 fragments per primer, respectively. Polymorphic information content for ISSR and SCoT primers ranged from 0.39 to 0.45 and 0.28 to 0.34, with the resolving power ranging from 21.61 to 3.97 and 13.08 to 28.02, respectively. Neighbour-joining (NJ) based clustering grouped 72 accessions into three main groups based on two markers studied (ISSR and SCoT) and the combined data (ISSR + SCoT), which associated with their eco-geographical regions. Population structure based analysis divided 72 accessions into 3 subpopulations using ISSR markers, when SCoT was used eight subpopulations were observed. However, when the combined data was used only three subpopulations were found, which corresponded to the grouping observed with the NJ method and these results were supported by principal coordinate analyses (PCoA). Phytochemical analysis revealed that plant capsule has higher total amounts of the alkaloids; thebaine, morphine and oripavine than stem tissues. Interestingly, for the geographical parameters, latitude showed a significant and positive correlation with thebaine extracted from both stem and capsules and the regression results confirmed these associations. Taken together, our results indicated that three populations Ploor, Eil-Teymoor and Anjomane due to their high contents of alkaloids like thebaine as well as the Taham population due to its high content of morphine and oripavine have a strong enough potency to be used in the pharmacy industry.Peer reviewe