An Analysis of Pragmatic Competence in 2013 Presidential Election Candidates of Iran: A Comparison of Speech Acts with the Poll Outcomes

This study tried to investigate pragmatic competence in Iran’s 2013 presidential election candidates. The data were collected from the recorded video of a live TV program at the Fararu news source by sampling the third debate. At first, the researchers employed Austin’s (1962) and Searle’s (1975) theory to extract types of speech act strategies used by the candidates. Then, the study used the Pearson chi-square formula to examine the frequency of speech acts types. Moreover, the present study compared types of locutionary, illocutionery, and perlocutionary speech acts used by candidates with the poll outcomes issued by press media, in order to achieve the assumption that speech acts might have a great effect on election’s outcomes. It found three kinds of locutionary acts: declarative, imperative and interrogative. Also, it found five kinds of illocutionary acts used by some candidates: declarative, representative, directive, expressive, and commissive. Consequently, the candidates were almost equally in using locutionary acts, but they were permanently different in illocutionary acts. Finally, in terms of perlocutionary acts, the candidates were mostly intended to get the hearers know by their assertion, explanation, clarification, argumentation, etc

The relation of religious orientation and happiness in Karate male athletes

The goal of current research was to assess the relation of religious orientation and happiness in Karate male athletes. Method of current studious research was a description of integration type. 80people of the male Karate athletes, having average age of 27 years were the current research's statistical sample, selected randomly among those athletes who participated in qualifying competitions in Ardebil province in 2013. Studied athletes had 5-6 years of experience at national championships. Data collection tools included Alport's (1950) religious orientation and Oxford's (1993) happiness questionnaires. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics was used and for hypothesis tests the correlation coefficients of pirson and regression was used step by step. The spss software, Version 22, is used for analyzing the data. The results of this research represented that there is no significant relation between the religious orientation and happiness (P >0.05). But the correlation between extrinsic religious orientation resulted in 0.001 which is not significant, and initial results of regression variance analysis also showed, that both intrinsic and extrinsic variables of religious orientation are not capable of predicting the happiness, and likewise, in the second step the research showed that the religious orientation together with its dimensions predict 44 percent of happiness variance for athletes in total

Evaluation of Fis-1 and miR-484 Expression Levels in Tumor Tissue Samples and Healthy Tumor Margins in Lung Cancer

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression and various cellular activities. They also hold significant importance in the progression and development of human malignancies. Among these, miRNA-484 and the Fis-1 gene have been identified as having substantial roles in lung cancer. This study aims to ascertain miRNA-484 and Fis-1 gene expression levels in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.Method: In this case-control study, 45 pairs of tumor tissues and their corresponding healthy margin tissues were surgically obtained from NSCLC patients and promptly preserved in liquid nitrogen after excision. Total RNA extraction was performed using TRIzol, followed by cDNA synthesis using a designated kit. Afterward, we used quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to measure the expression levels of miRNA-484 and the Fis-1 gene. Furthermore, the clinicopathological characteristics of the NSCLC patients were assessed.Results: Our findings revealed an upregulation of miRNA-484 expression and downregulation of Fis-1 gene expression in NSCLC tissues compared with non-tumor tissues. Additionally, significant correlations were observed between miRNA-484 and Fis-1 gene expression levels and clinicopathological features of the patients, including factors such as lymph node involvement and distant metastasis.Conclusion: These findings suggest the potential utility of Fis-1 and miR-484 as prognostic and diagnostic markers in NSCLC

Tweens demulsification effects on heavy crude oil/water emulsion

The demulsification role of Tweens (nonionic polymers) was determined in the separation of water from heavy crude oil emulsion. According to the previous researches, these nonionic polymers, having hydrophilic and lipophilic groups, are appropriate for making oil in water emulsion. In this research their effects in certain concentrations on demulsifying of water in crude oil emulsion were proved. High molecular weight, alkenes’ chains and groups of ketone and ester in these polymers can improve their performance for the demulsification of water in crude oil emulsion. Their efficiencies are improved with electronegative groups such as oxygen. They leave no corrosion effect because they are neutral and do not leave counter ions

Electromagnetic properties of lanthanum iron garnet filled PVDF-polymer composite at microwave frequencies using finite element method (FEM) and Nicholson–Ross–Weir (NRW) method

In our previous work, the lanthanum iron garnet-filled PVDF-polymer nanocomposite has been prepared. The real and imaginary parts of relative permittivity and permeability of mentioned sample were obtained simultaneously using the Nicholson-Ross-Weir (NRW) method based on the measurement of the reflection and transmission coefficients of the materials. In this study, the electric field distribution and attenuation at rectangular waveguide loaded sample were investigated based on the Finite Element Method (FEM). The computations of the reflection and transmission coefficients (S-parameters) were implemented using both the FEM and NRW methods. The results were compared with the measured reflection and transmission coefficients using the rectangular waveguide in conjunction with an Agilent N5230A PNA-L Vector network analyzer (VNA) at X-band frequencies (8 GHz- 12 GHz). The results of the relative error indicated that, among the two applied methods, the FEM is more accurate than the NRW method

Network of three specific microRNAs influence type 2 diabetes through inducing insulin resistance in muscle cell lines

Insulin resistance has been implicated as one of the best predictors for type 2 diabetes. Growing evidence propose the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs) as short regulatory molecules in modulating and inducing resistance. In this regard, we have investigated the role of three selected miRNAs in insulin resistance development (miR-135, miR-202, and miR-214), via assessing glucose uptake levels in C2C12 and L6 muscle cell lines. Interestingly, miRNA-transfected cells demonstrated a significantly different glucose uptake compared to the positive control cells. In addition, we evaluated the expression levels of three putative miRNA target genes (Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase 1, serine/threonine kinase 2, and vesicle-associated membrane protein 2) in transfected cells, recruiting luciferase assay. Our results indicated the targeting and downregulation of Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase 1 and serine/threonine kinase 2 genes in all miR-transfected cell lines (P � 0.05), but not for vesicle-associated membrane protein 2. MiRNA upregulation led to the poor stimulation of glucose uptake through insulin and developed insulin-resistant phenotype in both muscle cell lines. Our study showed the role of three miRNAs in the induction of insulin resistance in cell lines and making them prone to type 2 diabetes development. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc