The Effects of Topic Interest and L2 Proficiency on Writing Skill among Iranian EFL Learners

This study investigated the effect of topic interest and l2 proficiency on Iranian EFL learners’ writing skill. To fulfil this objective, 60 (30 pre-intermediate and 30 intermediate) learners from two high schools in Zarindasht, Fars, Iran were selected based on administering an Oxford Quick Placement Test. The selected participants were then non-randomly divided into two equal experimental groups; namely Pre-Intermediate High-Interest Topics group (PHIT group) and Intermediate Low-Interest Topics group (ILIT group). After that, the topic interest questionnaire was given to the students to assess their interest level in each topic. When the students’ level of interest was specified, the PHIT group received five high-interest topics and five low-interest topics were given to the ILIT group. Then, the researcher measured the participants’ English writing skill by administering a researcher-made writing pre-test. In both groups’ classroom, the interested topics were taught to learners in 12 sessions and learners wrote on each topic. After the instruction, a writing post-test was administered to the both groups and finally the data were analyzed by using paired and independent samples t-tests. The obtained results indicated that there was a significant difference between the post-tests of PHIT and ILIT groups. The findings indicated that the PHIT group significantly outperformed the ILIT group (p < .05) on the post-test. The implications of this study can make the teachers aware that topic interest plays an important role in improving writing skill

Lightweight Rubberized Concrete Slabs for Sustainable Road Pavements Serving Non-Auto Traffic

Non-auto transportation infrastructure, such as bicycle lanes and sidewalks, serves as an efficient means of public mobility. Improving the sustainable design and construction of the concrete slabs that compose such roads promotes environmental and economic benefits, spanning the usage of green sources of materials and reduced maintenance costs. In this study, an investigation into the application of recycled tires, also known as tire-derived aggregate (TDA), combined with rotary-kiln produced expanded clay (EC) as coarse aggregates in concrete, as well as their life-cycle cost assessment, are presented. The mechanical properties of concrete specimens with three different mix designs, i.e.,100% EC (MIX A or control mix), a mixture of 20% EC – 80% TDA (MIX B), and 100% TDA (MIX C) as coarse aggregates, were first derived through experimental tests. Impact-fatigue tests were then conducted on concrete slabs of MIX A, B, and C to evaluate their sustainability under several cycles of bicycle loads. The results showed that the TDA concrete has lower compressive and flexural strength, but it is more ductile than concrete with zero rubber content. Also, the results of impact-fatigue tests combined with a life-cycle cost analysis indicated the long-term benefits of constructing green and durable infrastructure using TDA on future investments in transportation

Producing multifunctional wool fabrics using nano zinc oxide in presence of natural dye henna

286-292Colored wool fabric with special functions, including self-cleaning, anti-bacterial, and ultraviolet (UV) blocking, has been prepared by applying nano ZnO as a photocatalyst and henna as both a natural dye for coloration and an agent capable of modifying the ZnO nanoparticles. Natural dye henna has been used as photo sensitizer to fabricate zinc oxide nanoparticles. Coloration of wool fabrics and surface modification of fabric are performed by adding modified zinc oxide nanoparticles in exhaustion bath. The self-cleaning property of treated wool fabrics is evaluated through discoloring methylene blue dye under sunlight irradiation. The antibacterial activities of the samples against two common pathogenic bacteria, namely Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus have also been assessed. The results indicate that adding natural dye henna to zinc oxide leads to better self-cleaning properties, even the photocatalytic activity of ZnO has no negative effect on fabric color. Moreover, this process imparts proper antibacterial properties and UV-blocking activity to wool fabrics

Assessment of an Tentative Novel Body of X-Ray tube in order to Decrease the Applicability Limitation in Medical Practice

The output of X-ray, especially in the field of required energy for diagnosing the disease is very low (in diagnosing lamps, it is less than 1%). In this kind of lamps the rest of the electrical energy is transformed to heat. This considerable amount of heat induces a myriad of too many limitations in choosing higher levels of radiation, particularly in specialized techniques. This process is the outcome of X-ray generating mechanism; thus, one of the proper solutions to reduce the limitations caused by generating high heat is enhancing the cooling rate in these lamps. In this project, the design and alloy of the framework, surface and the substance were altered in a manner whereby the cooling rate increases or heat accumulation in lamps decreases. This surface was designed in the shape of a two-part disc with wings whose substance is the same as the framework. The substance of the framework is made of an alloy of copper and chromium. The disc shape of the framework and its aerodynamic compatibility further expose its contacting surface to the air.  This contacting surface can be expanded to 10 times more than the ordinary frameworks. The heat conductivity coefficient of this alloy is approximately 220 w/ mk, which in comparison with the heat conductivity coefficient of the ordinary lamps framework, being about 10, is 22 times more. The results of the tests reveal that the cooling rate of this framework is 10 times (or 1000%) more than the ordinary one. This process reduces the limitations of choosing radiation factors with the same proportio

Approximate Analytic Solution for the KdV and Burger Equations with the Homotopy Analysis Method

The homotopy analysis method (HAM) is applied to obtain the approximate analytic solution of the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) and Burgers equations. The homotopy analysis method (HAM) is an analytic technique which provides us with a new way to obtain series solutions of such nonlinear problems. HAM contains the auxiliary parameter ħ, which provides us with a straightforward way to adjust and control the convergence region of the series solution. The resulted HAM solution at 8th-order and 14th-order approximation is then compared with that of the exact soliton solutions of KdV and Burgers equations, respectively, and shown to be in excellent agreement

VME-DWT : an efficient algorithm for detection and elimination of eye blink from short segments of single EEG channel

Objective: Recent advances in development of low-cost single-channel electroencephalography (EEG) headbands have opened new possibilities for applications in health monitoring and brain-computer interface (BCI) systems. These recorded EEG signals, however, are often contaminated by eye blink artifacts that can yield the fallacious interpretation of the brain activity. This paper proposes an efficient algorithm, VME-DWT, to remove eye blinks in a short segment of the single EEG channel. Method: The proposed algorithm: (a) locates eye blink intervals using Variational Mode Extraction (VME) and (b) filters only contaminated EEG interval using an automatic Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) algorithm. The performance of VME-DWT is compared with an automatic Variational Mode Decomposition (AVMD) and a DWT-based algorithms, proposed for suppressing eye blinks in a short segment of the single EEG channel. Results: The VME-DWT detects and filters 95% of the eye blinks from the contaminated EEG signals with SNR ranging from −8 to +3 dB. The VME-DWT shows superiority to the AVMD and DWT with the higher mean value of correlation coefficient (0.92 vs. 0.83, 0.58) and lower mean value of RRMSE (0.42 vs. 0.59, 0.87). Significance: The VME-DWT can be a suitable algorithm for removal of eye blinks in low-cost single-channel EEG systems as it is: (a) computationally-efficient, the contaminated EEG signal is filtered in millisecond time resolution, (b) automatic, no human intervention is required, (c) low-invasive, EEG intervals without contamination remained unaltered, and (d) low-complexity, without need to the artifact reference

Approximate analytical solutions of KdV and burgers' equations via HAM and nHAM

This article presents a comparative study of the accuracy between homotopy analysis method (HAM) and a new technique of homotopy analysis method (nHAM) for the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) and Burgers' equations. The resulted HAM and nHAM solutions at 8th-order and 6th-order approximations are then compared with that of the exact soliton solutions of KdV and Burgers' equations, respectively. These results are shown to be in excellent agreement with the exact soliton solution. However, the result of HAM solution is ratified to be more accurate than the nHAM solution, which conforms to the existing findin

Global, regional, and national burden of colorectal cancer and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Funding: F Carvalho and E Fernandes acknowledge support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (FCT), in the scope of the project UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy i4HB; FCT/MCTES through the project UIDB/50006/2020. J Conde acknowledges the European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC-StG-2019-848325). V M Costa acknowledges the grant SFRH/BHD/110001/2015, received by Portuguese national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), IP, under the Norma Transitória DL57/2016/CP1334/CT0006.proofepub_ahead_of_prin