Observing students’ attitudes towards teachers’ code-switching in EFL classes. Does gender have any impact?

Code-switching is a widespread phenomenon used as a communicative resource both in natural and educational settings. This is very common in bilingual and multilingual settings but not in educational ones. There are varying attitudes towards the use of code switching. The present study was to investigate students’ attitudes towards teachers’ code-switching in EFL classes. Moreover, gender differences in students’ attitudes were observed. To this end, a four-section 20-item questionnaire developed by Yao (2011) was distributed to students. They were also supposed to answer the question regarding their gender identity at the top of the questionnaire. The data were tabulated, and frequencies and percentages were conducted by SPSS program. The findings displayed that students totally had positive attitudes towards code-switching used by teachers in EFL classes. However, there were some situations in which they were not interested in it. Furthermore, this study showed that gender does not cause any significant differences in students’ attitudes

Clinical and Radiographic Alterations in Bilateral Avascular Necrosis of the Femoral Head Following Laser Acupuncture: A Case Report

Introduction: Avascular necrosis (AVN) of the femoral head is an increasingly common cause of musculoskeletal disability with unknown etiology. Traumatic and non-traumatic factors can be effective in its occurrence. About 50% of cases are bilateral. The underlying treatment is prosthetic replacement surgical procedure.Case Presentation: We report a case of bilateral AVN of femoral heads who was a candidate for prosthetic replacement surgery but improved significantly, using laser acupuncture. The patient was a 55-year-old woman with a diagnosis of bilateral osteonecrosis of the femoral head for five years. As the patient declined the surgical option, laser acupuncture was started for pain control. Regarding the signs of bilateral femoral head recovery (according to the MRI scan criteria), a total of 3 courses of laser acupuncture (each course was 20 sessions) with 2 months intervals was performed. Ten acupuncture points: Li4, Li11, St36, SP6, LIV3, GB4, GB5, GB6, GB13, GB14, GB20, GB30, GB31, GB34, were irradiated bilaterally using red 650 nm laser, 100 mW, 1505 Hz frequency, duty cycle 50 3 J/point and near infrared 810 nm laser, 100 mW, 1705 Hz frequency, duty cycle 50 3 J/point, for 2 minutes. The patient received 3 laser therapy courses. During the first-course, laser therapy was done every other day to reduce pain. For the second and third courses, according to pain decrease, therapy was done every week.Results: The results of the MRI scans and x-ray studies show progressive regeneration of the right femoral head from VI to B II and of the left from V to C II (based on the standard table of Pennsylvania).Conclusion: It seems that this procedure may be mentioned in future research projects, especially in cases with high risks of surgery

Numerical Simulation of Steady Supercavitating Flows

In this research, the Supercavitation phenomenon in compressible liquid flows is simulated. The one-fluid method based on a new exact two-phase Riemann solver is used for modeling. The cavitation is considered as an isothermal process and a consistent equation of state with the physical behavior of the water is used. High speed flow of water over a cylinder and a projectile are simulated and the results are compared with the previous numerical and experimental results. The cavitation bubble profile in both cases agrees well with the previous experimental results reported in the literature. As the result shows, coupling the two-phase Riemann solver with the considered EOS prepares a robust method for simulating the compressible fluid flow with cavitation which can undertake the whole physical behavior of water in a supercavitation process. Furthermore, the influence of the cavitator head and the flow speed on the supercavitation bubble is explored. The results show that cavitators with sharper head results in a smaller supercavitating bubble. Increasing the flow speed beyond a specific limit does not have any significant effect on the cavitation bubble and slightly increases the bubble size

Investigation on some Ecological and Morphological Factor of Lagochilus macracanthus Fisch. & C. A. Mey in Yazd Province

Ecological study of behavior as essential elements of their ecosystems and habitat characteristics in order to find appropriate solutions to maintain, revise and revitalize this important part of the renewable natural resources. This present research is about autecology of Lagochilus macracanthus Fisch. & C. A. Mey. Study area is located in near of Nodooshan, Yazd, Iran. Selected sites were within three different elevations; 2300, 2375 and 2450 meters. Sampling was done in a random-systematic way in these elevations. In the site, the studies were climatically characteristic, co-dominant plant, and vegetation variation, physical and chemical analyses of the soil. Results showed that this species is distributed in rangelands with 7.7-7.9 pH, 0.13-0.19 EC ds/m in 2300-2450 meters elevation. According to 10-year statistics, the average rate of rain falls and annual temperature in this habitat is 98.54 millimeters and 14.56 centigrade, respectively. This plant grows as a shrub with the height of 45-60 centimeters. Vegetative growth begins at late-March, flowering occurs in late-May. Seeding happens in mid-July

Low-Power ASIC Design for Multiple Integrated Sensors Applications

poster abstractThe aim of this work is to develop sensor integrated low-power chip for biomedical and other applications. Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology in integrated circuit (IC) design has been applied to develop application specific integrated circuits (ASIC). An ASIC design that includes analog and digital sub-systems for various applications forming a system on chip (SoC) is presented. The analog sub-system drives multiple sensors, while the digital sub-system manages power, sensors, and signal output. A frequency of the pulse signals generated by the analog sub-system depends on the input voltage, which in-turn varies with sensor parameters. The frequency change of 750 MHz to 1 GHz was observed for input voltage variations of 1.2 to 2.2 V, with sensitivity of 10 mV. A separate temperature sensor included in the analog sub-system demonstrated frequency change of 830 to 440 MHz for temperature variations of ˗50°C to 100°C with resolution of 1°C. The output signal in digital sub-system is generated by counting the input pulses for each clock which has ‘on-state’ of only 3/16 seconds. This results in a significant reduction in the power consumption. This poster presents and discusses the system design and simulation results

Prognosis of Mechanical Ventilation in Very Low Birth Weight Neonates: A Single-Center Study in Tehran.

Background and Aims: Approximately 4–7 percent of all live births are led to a very low birth weight (VLBW) situation where the morbidity and mortality rate are very high. A large number of VLBW newborns in intensive care unit (ICU) require mechanical ventilation due to various conditions. To reduce mortality in this group, identification of risk factors is important. This study aimed to determine the prognosis of mechanical ventilation in VLBW neonates at Mahdiye hospital in Tehran. Materials and Methods: This study is a prospective cohort study. VLBW neonates who consecutively were put on mechanical ventilation during the study period were enrolled.  Then, the enrolled neonates were divided into two groups: neonates who died after implementing the ventilator were in group-I and neonates who survived after receiving mechanical ventilation were in group-II. Demographic, clinical and paraclinical variables were gathered to find out the predictors of mortality of ventilated neonates. The data were analyzed by SPSS software version 21. Results: During the study period, a total of 177 neonates were ventilated due to different causes. 56% were male with a male to female ratio 1.27:1. Mean birth weight and gestational age were 1024.8 ± 247.5 grams and 27.9±2.2 weeks respectively. Out of 177 mechanically ventilated VLBW neonates enrolled for this study, 53% died. Significant factors determining mortality rate were mean weight, mean gestational age, pulmonary hemorrhage, advance resuscitation and duration of hospital stay (p<0.05). APGAR score, gender, Pneumothorax, IVH>II, Sepsis and Maternal Disease were not significantly associated with mortality in VLBW neonates requiring mechanical ventilation (P>0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that among the analyzed factors weight <1000gm, gestation <28weeks, pulmonary hemorrhage and complications during ventilation were the most significant predictors of mortality in ventilated VLBW neonates in the intensive care unit

Antifungal effect of sesame medicinal herb on Candida Species: original study and mini-review

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal susceptibility patterns of three antifungals, methanolic extracts and N-hexane oil of sesame seeds on C. albicans and C. glabrata, isolated from oral cavity of liver transplant recipients. The results were compared with other reports to develop a mini review as well. Candida species were isolated from liver transplant recipients. To evaluate the antifungal activity of sesame seed oil and methanolic extract, fluconazole, caspofungin and nystatin, the corresponding minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined by CLSI M27-A3 standard method. Minimum fungicidal concentration was also evaluated. The most prevalent species was C. albicans, followed by C. glabrata. Findings indicated sensitivity to antifungal agents and resistance to methanolic extract and N-hexane oil for all C. albicans and C. glabrata isolates. The rate of Candida colonization in the oral cavity of liver transplant recipients was high. Our results revealed that the methanolic and N-hexan extracts of sesame seeds are not effective on C. albicans and C. glabrata species, isolated from the patients. The sesame seed oil pulling and mouthwash cannot effectively cleanse and remove the Candida species in the mouth. Investigation of other medicinal plants or other parts of sesame like leaves and roots are suggested

The Prevalence of Allergy symptoms in Students in Rural Area

Background: Asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema as a common disorder in childhood, has many epidemiologic variations in different geographic areas. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of pediatric allergic disease in rural area of Babol. Methods: This analytical-cross sectional study was performed in 2012 by random sampling on 2 groups of children; the first group aged 6-7 years (n=1735) and the second group aged 12-14 years (n=2080) during 2012. Data was collected by ISAAC first phase questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS 17 and Chi square test. Results: The prevalence of asthma in elementary school was 19% and in guidance school was 29.9% (p=0.000). The prevalence of allergic rhinitis in primary school in guidance school was 9.9% and 18.1%, respectively (p=0.000). There was no significant difference (p=0.223) between Elementary school (6.1%) and Guidance school (5.5%) in terms of prevalence of eczema. Conclusions: The results showed that the prevalence of asthma and allergic rhinitis in the rural area of Babol was remarkable that was high in older age group and needs to more attention in health program for decreasing this prevalence