Can direct corrective feedback in learners’ mother tongue and in foreign language affect the EFL learners’ writing accuracy differently?

The present study sleeked to find out whether direct grammar corrective feedback has any impact on EFL pre-intermediate learners’ writing accuracy. This study is also intended to investigate whether the impact of direct grammar corrective feedback to EFL pre-intermediate writers in their mother language differs from that in foreign language (English) on the learners’ writing accuracy. To meet the aims, 60 female Iranian pre-intermediate English learners in 3 groups of 20, two as Experimental groups and one as a control group, were asked to participate in this study. Subjects were asked to write a 100 word paragraph around three different topics, each with two days intervals. Experimental group 1 received grammar corrective feedback in Persian, Iranians’ mother language, experimental group 2 received the same feedback in English, Iranians’ foreign language, and no feedback was given to control group. Statistical analysis based on Mean scores and ANCOVA revealed that to improve pre-intermediate EFL learners writing accuracy, these writers need to receive direct grammar corrective feedback in their mother language

Can direct corrective feedback in learners’ mother tongue and in foreign language affect the EFL learners’ writing accuracy differently?

The present study sleeked to find out whether direct grammar corrective feedback has any impact on EFL pre-intermediate learners’ writing accuracy. This study is also intended to investigate whether the impact of direct grammar corrective feedback to EFL pre-intermediate writers in their mother language differs from that in foreign language (English) on the learners’ writing accuracy. To meet the aims, 60 female Iranian pre-intermediate English learners in 3 groups of 20, two as Experimental groups and one as a control group, were asked to participate in this study. Subjects were asked to write a 100 word paragraph around three different topics, each with two days intervals. Experimental group 1 received grammar corrective feedback in Persian, Iranians’ mother language, experimental group 2 received the same feedback in English, Iranians’ foreign language, and no feedback was given to control group. Statistical analysis based on Mean scores and ANCOVA revealed that to improve pre-intermediate EFL learners writing accuracy, these writers need to receive direct grammar corrective feedback in their mother language

Can direct corrective feedback in learners’ mother tongue and in foreign language affect the EFL learners’ writing accuracy differently?

The present study sleeked to find out whether direct grammar corrective feedback has any impact on EFL pre-intermediate learners’ writing accuracy. This study is also intended to investigate whether the impact of direct grammar corrective feedback to EFL pre-intermediate writers in their mother language differs from that in foreign language (English) on the learners’ writing accuracy. To meet the aims, 60 female Iranian pre-intermediate English learners in 3 groups of 20, two as Experimental groups and one as a control group, were asked to participate in this study. Subjects were asked to write a 100 word paragraph around three different topics, each with two days intervals. Experimental group 1 received grammar corrective feedback in Persian, Iranians’ mother language, experimental group 2 received the same feedback in English, Iranians’ foreign language, and no feedback was given to control group. Statistical analysis based on Mean scores and ANCOVA revealed that to improve pre-intermediate EFL learners writing accuracy, these writers need to receive direct grammar corrective feedback in their mother language

CAN EFL LEARNERS' LEARNING STYLES IMPACT THEIR PERFORMANCE ON WRITING SKILL UNDER DIRECT AND INDIRECT CORRECTIVE FEEDBACKS?

This study presents the findings of an investigation of the impact of teacher error corrective feedback on 180 field-dependent/ field-independent (FD/FI) male and female pre-intermediate and advanced Iranian EFL learners writing skill. The participants were separated into two experimental groups and one control group and were asked to write three paragraphs of about 100-150 words around three different topics, each in odd days of a week; then they received direct (in experimental group 1), indirect (in experimental group 2) and no correction feedback (in control group). The results based on Mean Scores, Standard Deviation, Multivariate Analyses and 1-way ANOVA showed that there was not any significant difference between the FD/FI learners' writing skill scores who had received corrective feedback on their errors; however, as indicated by the second finding of the present study it would be better to feedback field-dependent/-independent EFL learners indirectly. It was also indicated that, learners' learning styles had made a significant change in their writing skill scores

Investigating the Impact of gasoline price on human development index in the Iranian Economy

As one of the strategic production inputs, energy has always drawn the attention of policymakers and economists, and humans' ever-increasing need for this input cannot be disregarded. Therefore, access to energy is one of life's essential requirements to reach higher levels of development. Petrol is one of the important energy carriers, and policymaking regarding this fuel has always been a controversial topic in Iran. In fact, petrol becoming a distinctive commodity in the eyes of Iranians has led to petrol pricing having extensive economic, political, and social aspects. In the present study, the Vector Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method is applied in order to investigate the impacts of petrol prices on the Human Development Index (HDI). The period under study is 1980-2019. The variables used in the model include the HDI, the Gini coefficient, inflation rate, Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of production, and petrol price. The results indicate that in a long-term perspective, petrol price and the Gini coefficient are the variables with significant negative effects on the HDI, and the inflation rate and TFP of production are the variables with significant positive effects on the corresponding index. As a result, due to the negative impact of gasoline price increase on the human development index, necessary considerations should be taken into account to increase the price of gasoline in Iran's economy, and other policies such as increasing the productivity of production factors should be used to reduce the negative effects of this policy

Patterns of better breast cancer care in countries with higher human development index and healthcare expenditure : Insights from GLOBOCAN 2020

Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the World Health Organization for their efforts on cancer epidemiology estimates, as well as the GLOBOCAN project, which made this study possible. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Azadnajafabad, Saeedi Moghaddam, Mohammadi, Delazar, Rashedi, Baradaran and Mansourian.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Phthalate contamination of some plants and herbal products

Phthalate derivatives cause a number of risks to human health and the environment. Essential oil and volatile fractions of some vegetables and herbal products were extracted by hydrodistillation and percolation methods to analyze using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for evaluation of phthalate contaminations. The results revealed that four vegetables and all aromatic waters were contaminated by phthalate derivatives including di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), diisobutyl phthalate and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) (0.1-7.95%). Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), a widely used synthetic antioxidant, was also found in the most of the aromatic waters in the range of 3.15-61.3%. In addition, three vegetable samples contained diazinon (0.36-4.61%), an organophosphorus insecticide. Plants and herbal preparations may be contaminated by the absorption of phthalates from contaminated water or soil or by the migration of phthalates from inexpensive recycled plastic. Regarding the widespread use and associated health risks of phthalates, effective quality and safety regulations for herbal products should be implemented with respect to their phthalate content.Keywords: Aromatic water, BHT, DBP, DEHP, diazinone, diisobutyl phthalate

Patterns of better breast cancer care in countries with higher human development index and healthcare expenditure: Insights from GLOBOCAN 2020

BackgroundThe huge burden of breast cancer (BC) necessitates the profound and accurate knowledge of the most recent cancer epidemiology and quality of care provided. We aimed to evaluate BC epidemiology and quality of care and examine the effects of socioeconomic development and healthcare expenditure on disparities in BC care.MethodsThe results from the GLOBOCAN 2020 study were utilized to extract data on female BC, including incidence and mortality numbers, crude rates, and age-standardized rates [age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) and age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs)]. The mortality-to-incidence ratio (MIR) was calculated for different locations and socioeconomic stratifications to examine disparities in BC care, with higher values reflecting poor quality of care and vice versa. In both descriptive and analytic approaches, the human development index (HDI) and the proportion of current healthcare expenditure (CHE) to gross domestic product (CHE/GDP%) were used to evaluate the values of MIR.ResultsGlobally, 2,261,419 (95% uncertainty interval (UI): 2,244,260–2,278,710) new cases of female BC were diagnosed in 2020, with a crude rate of 58.5/100,000 population, and caused 684,996 (675,493–694,633) deaths, with a crude rate of 17.7. The WHO region with the highest BC ASIR (69.7) was Europe, and the WHO region with the highest ASMR (19.1) was Africa. The very high HDI category had the highest BC ASIR (75.6), and low HDI areas had the highest ASMR (20.1). The overall calculated value of female BC MIR in 2020 was 0.30, with Africa having the highest value (0.48) and the low HDI category (0.53). A strong statistically significant inverse correlation was observed between the MIR and HDI values for countries/territories (Pearson's coefficient = −0.850, p-value < 0.001). A significant moderate inverse correlation was observed between the MIR and CHE/GDP values (Pearson's coefficient = −0.431, p-value < 0.001).ConclusionsThis study highlighted that MIR of BC was higher in less developed areas and less wealthy countries. MIR as an indicator of the quality of care showed that locations with higher healthcare expenditure had better BC care. More focused interventions in developing regions and in those with limited resources are needed to alleviate the burden of BC and resolve disparities in BC care

Burden of Drug and Alcohol Use Disorders in Iran: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010

Background: Due to its specific socio-cultural and geographical situation, Iran has a major public health problem in terms of drug and alcohol use. The aim of this study is to report and critique the burden of drug and alcohol use disorders in Iran, and to compare these measurements with similar findings. Methods: This study used data for Iran for the years 1990, 2005, and 2010 derived from the Global Burden of Disease study conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in 2010. The burden of drug and alcohol use disorders was evaluated in terms of disability adjusted life years (DALYs), years of life lost to premature mortality (YLLs), and years lived with disability (YLDs). Results: All rates were reported per 100,000 individuals. Death rates attributed to drug and alcohol use disorders were 7.7 and 0.16 for men, and 0.62 and 0.02 for women, respectively. YLL rates regarding drug use disorders were 351.8 and 24.8 for men and women, while these figures were 5.8 and 1.0 for alcohol use disorders for men and women, respectively. YLD rates of drug use disorders were 452.6 for men and 202.1 for women, and 105.8 for men and 23.7 for women for alcohol use disorders. DALY rates attributed to drug use disorders were 804.5 for men and 227 for women, while these rates were 111.7 for men and 24.7 for women, related to alcohol use disorders. Conclusions: Similar to the cases in many other countries, the burden of both drug and alcohol use disorders is higher for men than women in Iran. Although prevention policies and programs for drug and alcohol use are required for both genders, the need for drug and alcohol use intervention seems more urgent for men in Iran

National and sub-national HIV/AIDS-related mortality in Iran, 1990–2015: a population-based modeling study

Surveillance of HIV/AIDS mortality is crucial to evaluate a country’s response to the disease. With a modified estimation approach, this study aimed to provide more accurate estimates on deaths due to HIV/AIDS in Iran from 1990 to 2015 at national and sub-national levels. Using a comprehensive data set, death registration incompleteness and misclassification were addressed by demographical and statistical methods. Trends of mortality due to HIV/AIDS at national and sub-national levels were estimated by applying a set of models. A total of 474 men (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 175–1332) and 256 women (95% UI: 36–1871) died due to HIV/AIDS in 2015 in Iran. Peaked in 1995, HIV/AIDS-related mortality has steadily declined among both genders. Mortality rates were remarkably higher among men than women during the period studied. At the sub-national level, the highest and the lowest annual percent change were found at 10.97 and −1.36% for women, and 4.04 and −3.47% for men, respectively. The findings of our study (731 deaths) were remarkably lower than the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (4000) but higher than Global Burden of Disease (339) estimates in 2015. The overall decrease in mortality due to HIV/AIDS may be attributed to the increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases; however, the role of the national and international organizations to fight HIV/AIDS should not be overlooked. To decrease HIV/AIDS mortality and to achieve international goals, evidence-based action is required. To fast-track targets, the priority must be to prevent infection, promote early diagnosis, provide access to treatment, and to ensure treatment adherence among patients. Keywords HIV, AIDS, mortality, estimation, modeling, Ira