Ranking of Education Design Indices in the Evaluation of Teaching of Lecturers by Students

Background & Objective: The evaluation of the teaching of lecturers by students is necessary in order to provide feedback for lecturers on improving the quality of student education, evaluating teacher's duties, and to help administrators in making decisions on employing or promoting faculty members. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to design a questionnaire related to education design indices and to classify these factors in the evaluation of teaching of lecturers by students. It should be noted that Danielson’s Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument, 2013 Edition, was used in the designing of the questionnaire. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Using the Krejcie and Morgan table and the omission of unreturned and incomplete questionnaires, a total of 297 questionnaires were studied. The questionnaires were investigated through validity coefficient, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and mean. Data were analyzed using SPSS and Amos software. Results: Through exploratory factor analysis, 8 subscales were achieved. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis approved the abovementioned indexes available in the subbranches of student evaluation. In assessing teaching indexes, the most important aspect is interaction between teachers and students, and punctuality, presenting new topics, mastery over educational material, student participation in discussions, using educational technologies, lesson design, and evaluation. Conclusion: In general, the reliability and validity, face validity, content coefficient, and construct validity of the scale were satisfactory. It can be used in internal researches. Key Words: Teaching evaluation, Validity coefficient, Exploratory factor analysis, Confirmatory factor analysis, Rankin

Amending in vitro culture condition to overcome oxidative stress in assisted reproduction techniques (ART)

    In assisted reproduction techniques (ART) settings, reactive oxygen species (ROS) can be produced from endogenous and exogenous sources during in vitro manipulation. Endogenous sources of ROS include gametes and embryo, whereas exogenous sources are oxygen tension, light exposure, culture media, and the nature of some protocols, such as centrifugation or cryopreservation. Elevated ROS production can result in oxidative stress (OS), which is harmful to gametes and embryos, and reduces the procedure’s outcomes. Therefore, addressing various aspects of the adverse effects of oxidative stress and its management is necessary

Improvement of Dimensional Tolerance Management in Construction

Tolerance-related problems are amongst the most common, recurring defects in construction projects. They are often dealt with on an ad hoc basis and at the time and place of the assembly process. The existing academic literature and the industrial guidelines provide only general recommendations for the improvement of tolerance management, and a pragmatic and holistic process for this purpose is still missing. This research aims at developing a process to proactively identify and prevent tolerance problems at the stages preceding assembly on site. Design Science Research is the adopted methodological approach as the focus is on prescribing a solution to solve a practical problem, as well as on contributing to theory. To design a workable solution, the literature not only in construction but also in manufacturing is reviewed, empirical data is collected from three cases, fifteen tolerance problems are documented and analysed, and a detailed root cause analysis is performed for the identified tolerance problems. The solution devised is a process, called Tolerance Management System (TMS), which has five parts, each comprising a set of steps, documents, methods and techniques implemented through a particular organisational design. The parts of TMS are: identification of tolerance requirements/risks, planning the achievement of tolerance requirements/mitigation of tolerance risks, communication of tolerance information, tolerance compliance measurement, and learning and documentation. Process standardisation and continuous improvement are two foundational elements of lean that are employed in TMS. Two focus group meetings are conducted to evaluate whether the developed solution fulfils its aim and to refine it further. It was pinpointed during the focus group meetings that many of the TMS steps could be adopted in practice immediately to help practitioners deal with tolerances more systematically. The research results in contributions to the theory by providing a better understanding of not only a typical but also an advanced practice of tolerance management in the construction industry, and by providing a comprehensive list of root causes of the identified tolerance problems. A contribution to both theory and practice is the developed solution, TMS, by which (a) tolerances can be taken systematically into account from project inception to completion, (b) tolerance information can be effectively communicated amongst designers and construction trades, and (c) the conventional focus on the compliance of deviations of a single component with standards is shifted to whether sub-assemblies function properly within the specified tolerances

Development of an Experimental Waste Framework Based on Bim/Lean Concept in Construction Design

The construction industry faces many problems and challenges especially with the construction of housing which are due to the high level of non-value-adding activities (waste) that reduce the overall construction performance and productivity. In recent years, there have been investigations and research on improving the performance of construction. Lean construction is widely known as an effective process which aims to maximise customer value and the efficiency of the project by eliminating non-value-adding activities or waste. Moreover, the Building Information modelling (BIM) concept has been recognised as a collaborative process which aims to improve the overall project performance through its tools' capabilities. This paper intends to study the potential effects of integrating these two concepts in order to reduce construction waste. This paper presents a framework, named an Experimental Waste Framework based on the findings of this paper to explore how an integrated BIM and Lean concept can contribute to the practicable reduction of construction waste in the design process of construction

Critical Review of Tolerance Management in Construction

The current practice of Tolerance Management (TM) is still very ad hoc and reactive, despite increasing calls for waste reduction and an improved quality of buildings particularly within industrialised construction. This paper aims to identify the root causes of tolerance problems, the reasons why current methods have not been as successful as expected and why the industry still struggles with this issue. Having reviewed and interpreted the existing literature, it is apparent that tolerance problems fall into two categories defined by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Furthermore, the drawbacks of the existing methods for TM were analysed, and the findings show that none of the existing methods have been considered in a continuous and holistic process and they remain scattered

The relationship between sport orientation and competitive anxiety in elite athletes

AbstractThe aim of this study was to examine the relationship between sport orientation and competitive anxiety in elite athletes in Fars province. In order to do this study, 688 subjects were selected by using systematic sampling and they filled Gill's Sport Orientation and Martin's Competitive Anxiety Questionnaires. The results of enter multiple regression analysis and MANOVA indicated that sport orientation could predict competitive anxiety. It was showed that when competitiveness and goal-oriented increase, competitive anxiety reduces, but increasing desire to win causes increasing competitive anxiety. Finally, the results showed that male athletes were more competitive and wining than female athletes, while female athletes were more goal-oriented than male athletes (P≤0/05). However, there is no significant difference between sport orientation team and individual sports (P>0/05

A Novel Mutation in the OXCT1 Gene Causing Succinyl-CoA:3-Ketoacid CoA Transferase (SCOT) Deficiency Starting with Neurologic Manifestations

  Succinyl-CoA:3-oxoacid CoA-transferase (SCOT) deficiency is an inborn error of ketone body utilization characterized by intermittent ketoacidosis crises. This study reports the first Iranian patient with SCOT deficiency who presented with seizure and hypotonia at birth.Accordingly, she was consequently re-hospitalized due to hypotonia and respiratory distress. Laboratory tests revealed hyperammonemia, ketonuria, and metabolic acidosis. Besides, the plasma glucose level was normal without any other abnormality. Despite treatment with high-dose bicarbonate, severe acidosis persisted. Poor response to treatment raised a significant diagnostic challenge among specialists until genetic investigation identified a homozygous nonsense mutation (c.79G>T; p.Gly27*) in the OXCT1 gene (NM_000436), causing SCOT deficiency. Genetic studies help clinicians achieve a definite diagnosis of such metabolic disorders. In this case, the accurate and early diagnosis of SCOT deficiency opened new therapeutic possibilities, including frequent carbohydrate-rich meals and low fat and protein diet. Moreover, our findings expand the mutational and clinical spectrum of SCOT deficiency

Beta-amyloid exhibits antagonistic effects on alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in orchestrated manner

AbstractAlthough beta-amyloid (Aβ) has been regarded as the principal toxic factor in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), it plays important physiological roles in phenomena such as neuron survival, synaptic plasticity, and memory formation. There are numerous plausible reasons to assume that all of the mentioned pathological and physiological functions of Aβ may be partially mediated via alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). Agonistic and antagonistic aspects of Aβ on nAChRs may explain this paradox in peptide–receptor function. It seems that Aβ shows antagonistic effects on α7 nAChR in a dose-dependent manner, and its pathologic function may partially correlate with antagonization of the receptor.If this hypothesis is supported, the related mechanisms of neurotoxicity, neuroprotection, memory formation, and AD pathogenesis might be identified. In addition, such knowledge helps make a more valid interpretation of neuron signaling and a better design of AD animal models. In addition, it may provide new insights into AD therapy development via reducing the amount of Aβ and inhibiting peptide aggregation

Deploying 3D scanning based geometric digital twins during fabrication and assembly in offsite manufacturing

Verifying geometric compliance in offsite manufacturing (OSM) is key for ensuring adequate fit-up, structural integrity, building system performance, and assembly alignment on site. The use of a geometric digital twin (gDT) from 3 D scanning can be used to digitize an assembly to detect and resolve potential problems in a prescient manner. The contribution of this article is the development of a framework for deploying and comparing three distinct gDT approaches for use during fabrication and assembly in OSM: (1) a scan-vs-BIM approach, (2) a scan-to-BIM approach and (3) a parametric BIM updating approach. Results from a commercial building project show that scan-vs-BIM is the most accurate approach, parametric BIM updating produces the most semantically rich gDT, and scan-to-BIM is a middle-tiered option, striking a balance between representational accuracy and semantic enrichment. This study concludes that future research should develop a hybrid solution of these gDT approaches and additional more accurate measurement technologies for optimal deployment in OSM

Tolerance Management in Construction: A Conceptual Framework

Defects associated with dimensional and geometric tolerance variability (tolerance problems) are often dealt with during the construction phase of projects. Despite the potentially severe consequences of those defects, tolerance management (TM) is a perennial challenge, and the construction industry lacks a systematic and practical process to provide insight into avoiding the reoccurrence of tolerance problems. The aim of this research is to present a conceptual framework to proactively reduce the reoccurrence of tolerance problems at stages preceding on site construction. The research uses an exploratory case study approach exploring TM in a civil engineering consultancy. Evidence was collated from semi-structured interviews and document analysis, and validated in a group interview. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The study contributes to knowledge in engineering management by providing new insights into drawbacks of existing TM guidelines. It also describes a good practice application of TM by a civil engineering consultancy, and proposes a conceptual framework to improve TM, which provides a basis to develop more effective practical solutions for TM