On the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ classroom management orientations and teaching style

AbstractThe present study explores Iranian EFL teachers’ classroom management orientations and their relationship with the teaching styles teachers employ in English classes. Three hundred EFL teachers filled in Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control inventory and Teaching Activities Preference questionnaire. It was found that most Iranian EFL teachers were interventionist with respect to their classroom management approaches. Furthermore, it was found that teachers who were more interventionist in their classroom management used more teaching activities than those teachers with interactionalist classroom management orientation. More in-depth analysis revealed that classroom management orientations could predict 28% of the variance of teaching style

The relation of personality dimension with nationalism consumption level of the Sanandaj citizens

The purpose of this research is to determine the level of the Sanandaj citizens' personality dimensions and property relation with the nationalism consumption in 2004. The method of this study is descriptive and correlation kind. The statistic society of the current study consisted of Sanandaj people with the cognitive population property (education and economy situation) that according to the over 2000 persons of population density, 384 persons was chosen based on the Korjesi and Morgan with the classification method as the statistic objects. The information collective tool included the five personality factors questionnaire and the nationalism consumption measurement. For analysis the data, the SPSS statistic software, and for surveying the relation of the criterion and foresight variables, the analysis of the Regression and Variance correlation coefficients was used. The Regression analysis represented that the personality variable dimensions, predict the nationalism consumption variable variance at 5 percent level. This coefficient was having a positive effect in extroversion dimension, it means that with the extroversion level increment, the nationalism consumption will also increase, but in other dimensions (Excitement stability, flexibility, deontology, amiability), it had negative coefficient effect thus with any dimensions increment (Excitement stability, flexibility, deontology, amiability), the nationalism consumption level decrease

Level of Harmonization and ERP Architecture in Multinational Corporations

While one-site, one-instance implementation was the common practice during the infancy of ERP systems, the growing business trend towards globalization and the advancement of ERP and telecommunication technology have increased the popularity of centralized single-instance ERP systems among multinational corporations. The ERP distribution decision in MNCs has been mainly associated with the corporate strategy and governance structure. As global ERP deployment benefits mainly come from business consolidation, and as there are significant costs and risks associated with centralized ERP implementations, this paper investigates the influence of level of harmonization in the choice of ERP architecture in MNCs. Though the findings indicate a negative relation between the level of harmonization and a centralized ERP systems’ effectiveness, the study identifies the choice of ERP architecture to be more directly affected by the factors prohibiting further divergence, namely the corporate business process governance structure and the degree of similarity of its business models

Effect of Chemical-Hydrothermal Pretreatments on Compositional and Morphological Changes of Spruce Wood Exploited in Biogas Systems

Agricultural crops and forest residues are of valuable resources to produce biofuel due to anaerobic digestion. But, the recalcitrance nature of these lignocellulose residues limits its enzymatic degradation. Therefore, efficient pretreatments prior to anaerobic digestion are essential. Hydrothermal-chemical pretreatments using Phenol (Ph), Sodium Hydroxide (SH), and Phosphoric Acid (PA), and combined pretreatments included Ph+SH and Ph+PA as chemical pretreatments were used for spruce wood. The samples were put into the autoclave at 134º C for 20 min. Acid hydrolysis, FTIR and SEM analyses were carried out. The results indicated that all pretreatments were effective lignin removal having the highest value for Ph (42.362%). Adding Ph to PA increased lignin removal from 1.580% to 6.112%. Mixing Ph to SH represented the same trend in changing structure of spruce wood as compared to individually SH. All results proposed that when Ph contributed in binary pretreatment with SH and PA, it could be more effective on the morphological changes of spruce wood. In general, Ph was more effective on changing the crystalline structure of spruce wood than the others. After that, Ph+SH was more effective compared to Ph+PA on structural changes. In comparison between alkali and acidic pretreatments, SH represented more structural change in spruce wood than PA one. To decreased toxicity of Ph, it is recommended to use the combination of Ph with SH as infectious pretreatment instead of individually Ph. Because, this increases the biodegradation power of SH while the toxicity of Ph decreases. The results are very important in biogas production systems

Enterprise Architecture Management: Toward a Taxonomy of Applications

Despite the growing interest in enterprise architecture management, researchers and practitioners lack a shared understanding of its applications in organizations. Building on findings from a literature review and eight case studies, we develop a taxonomy that categorizes applications of enterprise architecture management based on three classes of enterprise architecture scope. Organizations may adopt enterprise architecture management to help form, plan, and implement IT strategies; help plan and implement business strategies; or to further complement the business strategy-formation process. The findings challenge the traditional IT-centric view of enterprise architecture management application and suggest enterprise architecture management as an approach that could support the consistent design and evolution of an organization as a whole

Hope measurement questionnaire for family members of patients admitted to intensive care units

BACKGROUND: Since the concept of hope in the family members of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) is of particular importance and the role of this concept in the health of this group of people is evident, it seems that a valid and reliable scale for measuring this concept is necessary. The purpose of this study was to design a hope measurement questionnaire for family members of patients admitted to the ICU of Besat Hospital in Sanandaj, Iran.METHODS: The families of patients in the ICUs were selected using the convenience sampling method and completed the "Hope Questionnaire" along with demographic characteristics questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (criterion scale). The validity of the instrument was determined by construct validity and criterion validity and the reliability was evaluated through calculation of internal correlation coefficient and test-retest. Data were analyzed by factor analysis, correlation coefficients, and Cronbach's alpha.RESULTS: The items having the most factor loading were named based on the nature and size of the variables from which the extracted factors had the most share. First factor, including 15 items alone, represented 14.867% of the total variance and was named "Optimistic Thinking towards the Future" and the second factor, representing 14.666% of the total variance, was named "Pessimistic Thinking towards the Future" which had 7 items. The correlation between the scores of Hope Scale and the BDI, which was performed for assessing the criterion validity of the scale (P < 0.01).CONCLUSION: The Hope Scale helps researchers gauge the different dimensions of hope through a deeper understanding of this concept. The scale had high validity and reliability in all fields. Considering the simplicity of its application and implementation, it can be used in various researches in which hope is considered as one of the studied variables

Application of Tuned Mass Dampers for Structural Vibration Control: A State-of-the-art Review

Given the burgeoning demand for construction of structures and high-rise buildings, controlling the structural vibrations under earthquake and other external dynamic forces seems more important than ever. Vibration control devices can be classified into passive, active and hybrid control systems. The technologies commonly adopted to control vibration, reduce damage, and generally improve the structural performance, include, but not limited to, damping, vibration isolation, control of excitation forces, vibration absorber. Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs) have become a popular tool for protecting structures from unpredictable vibrations because of their relatively simple principles, their relatively easy performance optimization as shown in numerous recent successful applications. This paper presents a critical review of active, passive, semi-active and hybrid control systems of TMD used for preserving structures against forces induced by earthquake or wind, and provides a comparison of their efficiency, and comparative advantages and disadvantages. Despite the importance and recent advancement in this field, previous review studies have only focused on either passive or active TMDs. Hence this review covers the theoretical background of all types of TMDs and discusses the structural, analytical, practical differences and the economic aspects of their application in structural control. Moreover, this study identifies and highlights a range of knowledge gaps in the existing studies within this area of research. Among these research gaps, we identified that the current practices in determining the principle natural frequency of TMDs needs improvement. Furthermore, there is an increasing need for more complex methods of analysis for both TMD and structures that consider their nonlinear behavior as this can significantly improve the prediction of structural response and in turn, the optimization of TMDs