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Learner autonomy (LA) has become an intriguing topic in the field of language teaching. This study explored Iranian EFL teachers' beliefs about and practices of LA in light of two under-researched variables, namely experience and licensure. To this end, a cluster sample of 50 teachers were chosen who were further categorized into TEFL versus non-TEFL based on their degree and then into novice versus experienced, based on their teaching experience. The data were gleaned utilizing the Learner Autonomy Questionnaire [Borg and Al-Busaidi 2012. "Learner Autonomy: English Language Teacher' Beliefs and Practices". London: The British Council], a class observation form designed based on the questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview. The results of two-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in the participants' beliefs toward autonomy in terms of experience and licensure and significant differences in the autonomy-promoting practices only in terms of experience. The results of the interview indicated that the teachers overlooked the significance of strategic investment in promoting LA and conceived of policy-makers and learners' expectations as two factors defying autonomy-promoting practice. The findings carry a number of implications for teacher education.

This study investigates the effects of the flipped teaching method (FTM) while using two types of corrective feedback (CF), explicit and implicit. A total of 80 Iranian EFL learners participated in the study. Of the participants, 40 studied grammar using the FTM, and the other 40 in a traditional manner. Each group was divided into two groups of 20 receiving different types of CF (explicit vs. implicit). The data were collected over time through three achievement tests (pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 3-week follow-up). A split-plot analysis of variance (SPANOVA) revealed a significant main effect for time and feedback types in the flipped classes. In the traditional classes, although time had a significant impact, the effect of feedback type was not significant. In terms of the integrated effect of feedback and method, it was found that flipped teaching integrated with explicit feedback was beneficial, yielding a significant improvement in students' grammar learning and retention over time.

The current study was an attempt to investigate the possible effects of lexical inference strategy training on Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners' vocabulary depth and breadth. This quasi-experimental study was conducted among 45 upper-intermediate EFL learners at Simin Language Institute, in Rasht-Iran, who were selected through convenience sampling. All learners were female, aged 18 to 40, from three intact classes who were randomly assigned to one experimental group and one control group. In the experimental group, the participants were taught how to infer the meaning of new words from the context, employing lexical inference strategies. The control group received the traditional method of teaching vocabulary. The results of the t-test analysis indicated that the participants in the experimental group who received instruction on lexical inference strategies outperformed their counterparts in the control group with regard to their vocabulary depth and breadth. The findings may have implications for EFL teachers, language learners, and syllabus designers.

Adopted innovative methodologies in teaching reading comprehension have been a topic of interest by reading scholars among which textual awareness raising seems to be effective in the reading classroom. Following this, the present study looked into the effect of reading instruction by raising the students' awareness of different expository text structures on their reading comprehension ability. The sample of the study was selected from the undergraduate EFL students in Islamic Azad University, Guilan Branch, Roudbar, Iran. In this regard, the students of two intact classes took part in Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) and 60 students (30 in each class) who reached the criterion of upper-intermediate were considered as the participants of the study. Then, the classes were randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups. The reading comprehension pre- and post-tests were utilized before and after the treatment in the data collection procedures. The treatment sessions aimed to raise the learners' awareness of the variety of structures used in expository texts. Results of the inferential statistics revealed a significant mean difference between the reading comprehension of the experimental and control groups after the treatment. It was found that raising the students' awareness of text structure by adopting different expository texts resulted in the improvement of students' reading comprehension ability in the experimental group. Findings can contribute to the practical application of raising the students' textual awareness as an effective strategy in assisting them to get mastery over reading comprehension skill.

During the last decade, increasing attention has been paid to the role of learner in the process of language learning and testing. Moreover, there is a general consensus in the literature that motivation is one of the key learner characteristics. The objective of this study was to explore the role of journal writing as a self-assessment technique in promoting Iranian EFL learners' motivation. The participants were 60 intermediate students in two groups. The particular self-assessment technique used in the experimental group was journal writing. At the beginning and end of the semester, both groups took a language proficiency test to ensure their homogeneity, and completed a questionnaires regarding motivation. The results revealed that writing journals in a regular base had a role in promoting the learners' motivation.

This study examined the effectiveness of an integrated training programme (ITP) in reducing female students' test anxiety with a view to the mothers' perfectionism as a moderating factor. A total of 60 primary school students (30 mothers with perfectionism trait and 30 mothers without perfectionism) were randomly selected using multi-stage cluster sampling and screening methods. Spielberger's Test Anxiety Scale and Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) were administered to the students and mothers, respectively. The participants were placed into four groups (two experimental and two control groups). The experimental groups received intervention in 14 sessions. The results suggested significant differences between experimental and control groups, but there was no significant difference between the two experimental groups (group 1: students with test anxiety and perfectionist mothers and group 2: students with test anxiety and non-perfectionist mothers). The moderating effect of mothers' perfectionism was not statistically confirmed. Implications of the study are discussed.

In the last decade, with the increased attention to learner-centred curricula, the topic of self-assessment and peer assessment has become of particular interest in testing and evaluation. The present study explores the role of self-assessment, and peer assessment in promoting writing performance of language learners. To do this, 157 intermediate TEFL (Teaching English as Foreign Language) students were assigned to five different treatments in five groups: four experimental groups and one control group. The first experimental group did journal writing as a self-assessment technique, the second group self-assessed their own writings, the third group employed peer assessment, and the fourth group had both self- and peer assessment. Moreover, there was teacher assessment in all experimental groups, except the fourth group, i.e., the self- and peer assessment group. In the control group, there was only teacher assessment. Also, at the beginning and end of the semester, all participants took a writing test. The design of the study was quasi-experimental, non-randomised control group, pre-test-post-test design. The results revealed that in the second and third groups, in which the students employed self-assessment and peer assessment, together with teacher assessment, we observed the maximum improvement in writing. (Contains 16 tables.)

Rice is a widely consumed food worldwide; however, it can be a source of pollutants, such as potentially toxic elements (PTEs), mycotoxins, and pesticides. Sixty rice samples imported from Pakistan (PAK), India (IND), and Thailand (THAI), as well as domestic Iranian (IRN) rice, were collected from Bushehr, Iran, and investigated for the contamination of PTEs, including arsenic (As), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and nickel (Ni); pesticides, including chlorpyrifos, trichlorfon, diazinon, fenitrothion, and chlorothalonil; mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), zearalenone (ZEN), ochratoxin A (OTA), and deoxynivalenol (DON); and molds. Estimated daily intake (EDI) and hazard quotient (HQ) of pollutants and hazard index (HI) and incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) of rice types for the Iranian adult population were calculated. The content of PTEs in Iranian rice was not higher than Iran's national standard limits. In contrast, other types of rice (imported) had at least one PTE above the permissible level. OTA content was below the detection limit, and all other mycotoxins were within the allowable range in all rice types. Thai rice was the only group without pesticides. The HI order of rice types was as follows: HIPAK = 2.1 > HIIND = 1.86 > HIIRN = 1.01 > HITHAI = 0.98. As was the biggest contributor to the HI of Iranian and Thai rice, and diazinon in the HI of Pakistani and Indian rice. The calculation of ILCR confirmed that the concentrations of Ni and Pb in Pakistani and Ni and As in Indian, Thai, and Iranian rice were not acceptable in terms of lifetime carcinogenic health risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is known and objective: Pharmacotherapy is an essential strategy for the treatment of many medical conditions especially chronic disease and often involves multiple medications being used simultaneously. Increasing the use of medications may pose some challenges to safe and effective drug therapy and if not identified and prevented by the pharmacists eventually can lead to drug‐related problems (DRPs). The present study aimed to examine the incidence of DRPs in Iranian patients and to evaluate patients' adherence to the clinical pharmacist interventions as well as the physicians' acceptance of these recommendations. Methods: This study was conducted in a university‐affiliated outpatient pharmacotherapy clinic over a 22‐month period. Patients aged 18 years and older with at least one chronic disease receiving at least four medications were included in the study. The patients were interviewed by a clinical pharmacist for comprehensive medication review. DRPs were identified using the DOCUMENT classification system. Recommendations were provided by the clinical pharmacist including interventions involving patient and/or physician to resolve DRPs. The patients were followed up after 2 weeks to evaluate their compliance and physician acceptance of clinical pharmacist recommendations. Results and discussion: Two hundred patients were included in this study. Overall, 875 DRPs were identified with an average of 4.37 per patient. The most prevalent DRPs were related to patient education or information (22.8%), undertreated indications (17.4%) and patient compliance (17.2%). The most common drugs associated with DRPs were alimentary and metabolism (22.2% of DRPs) followed by the cardiovascular system (19.2%) and nervous system (9.6%) medications. The DRP incidence correlated with gender only and was higher in females (p = 0.019). The clinical pharmacist provided 912 interventions with an average of 4.56 and 1.04 interventions per patient and per DRPs respectively. Patient education (41.3%), medication initiation or discontinuation (24.5%), and non‐pharmacological interventions (12.9%) were the most common clinical pharmacist interventions. Out of 912 interventions, 665 were followed up, out of which 427 were patient dependent and 228 involved physicians. The patient's compliance with clinical pharmacist recommendations was 81.2%. The physician acceptance rate of the recommendations was 44.1%. What is new and conclusion: The study shows that especially designed services such as pharmacotherapy clinics running by clinical pharmacists are necessary to detect and resolve DRPs in an effective way. The high compliance rate of the patients indicates patients' confidence in the clinical pharmacist services provided in the pharmacotherapy clinic. The low acceptance rate of the physicians highlights the need to improve interprofessional collaboration between clinical pharmacists and physicians in an outpatient setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the response of two safflower genotypes to auxin foliar application under late-season drought stress using a factorial split-plot experiment with the randomised complete block design, a two-year experiment (2016-2017 and 2017-2018) was conducted in Iran. The watering regime as specified in two levels including, regular irrigation and drought stress in main plots and two safflower genotypes and auxin foliar application in two levels including non-foliar application (control) and auxin foliar application at a concentration of 30 ppm were categorised in subplots. Drought stress at the seed filling stage reduced the safflower seed and oil yield. Moreover, a significant drought-induced decrease in linoleic acid, palmitic acid and behenic acid content, as well as an increase in oleic acids, was observed in two safflower genotypes. Among two safflower genotypes, the early maturing genotype less affected by drought and Goldasht had higher seed yield than the Padideh by 814 kg/ha, respectively. Auxin foliar application alleviates the adverse effects of drought, which led to an 18% increase in seed yield and components. However, the auxin application had no effect on the safflower seed oil content but palmitic acid content was affected by auxin foliar application. Generally, safflower along with auxin application can be recommended to develop safflower cultivation in semi-arid areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study estimated the GDP share of pharmaceuticals in Iran based on the drivers of pharmaceutical expenditure and compared it with that of 31 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Subject and methods: The factors contributing to pharmaceutical expenditure were identified through literature review and studied by 8 experts to classify the factors. Then, using the panel data method, a model was built to estimate the GDP share of pharmaceutical expenditure based on the extracted factors of the selected countries in Iran's model. To explain the observed differences, several regression analyses were performed based on cross-sectional data. The analyses were performed using EVIEWS software, version 10. Results: The explanatory variables for the selected countries in the panel model (R2 = 0.98) were specified. Government health expenditure (β = 0.1432), the share of generic drugs (β = − 0.0143), gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (β = − 0.0058) and the rate of disability-adjusted life-years (DALY) (β = 0.0028) contributed most to pharmaceutical expenditure. In comparison, in the Iranian estimation model (R2 = 0.84), government health expenditure (β = 0.0536) and the share of generic drugs (β = 0.0369) had a significant impact on pharmaceutical expenditure. In the estimation model with more estimators for Iran (R2 = 0.99), government health expenditure (β = 0.1694), disease prevalence (β = 0.0537), the share of generic drugs (β = 0.0102), the DALY rate (β = 0.0039), GDP per capita (β = − 0.0033), and the drug price index (β = 0.0007) contribute most to pharmaceutical expenditure. Conclusion: In the models of the study, factors related to the structure of the healthcare system and the pharmaceutical system contributed most to pharmaceutical expenditure as a share of GDP. Moreover, disease profiles show its predictive role in the second model for Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 40% of energy consumption in Iran associated with the building sector. Among the factors affecting energy consumption, time lag and decrement factor of the walls can be mentioned, which usually are not considered in the design of building of Iran. Therefore, in the present study, time lags and decrement factor for different building materials that prevalently are utilized in Iran have been investigated. In this research, the transient heat conduction equation is solved analytically using Green function under time-dependent convection boundary conditions. The effect of different parameters such as wall thickness and both inner and outer heat transfer coefficients as well as the effect of the thermal insulation layer in sandwich wall on time lag and decrement factor is investigated. The results indicate that the thickness and the type of the building material have a significant effect on the time lag and decrement factor of the wall. Also, it is shown that inside combined convection and radiation heat transfer coefficients affects time lag and decrement factor of the walls. The results of the present study are applicable for designing more effective passive solar buildings in Iran and optimal design of walls and other related areas resulting in energy saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The evaluation of a hazardous waste disposal site is a complicated process because it requires data from diverse social and environmental fields. These data often involve processing of a significant amount of spatial information which can be used by GIS as an important tool for land use suitability analysis. This paper presents a multi-criteria decision analysis alongside with a geospatial analysis for the selection of hazardous waste landfill sites in Kurdistan Province, western Iran. The study employs a two-stage analysis to provide a spatial decision support system for hazardous waste management in a typically under developed region. The purpose of GIS was to perform an initial screening process to eliminate unsuitable land followed by utilization of a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to identify the most suitable sites using the information provided by the regional experts with reference to new chosen criteria. Using 21 exclusionary criteria, as input layers, masked maps were prepared. Creating various intermediate or analysis map layers a final overlay map was obtained representing areas for hazardous waste landfill sites. In order to evaluate different landfill sites produced by the overlaying a landfill suitability index system was developed representing cumulative effects of relative importance (weights) and suitability values of 14 non-exclusionary criteria including several criteria resulting from field observation. Using this suitability index 15 different sites were visited and based on the numerical evaluation provided by MCDA most suitable sites were determined. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are associated with accidents and traffic violations. • Symptoms of ADHD are associated with higher performance in spatial cueing and visual search. • Both higher symptoms of ADHD and lower age predicted higher cognitive performance. Traffic accidents are a significant health issue in Iran, and mostly due to drivers' failures and health issues. In this view, the association between age, symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), objective visual perception and attention (spatial cueing and visual search) and drivers' driving violations and accidents have not been investigated in Iran so far. To counter this, 183 participants (mean age: 31.65 years; 147 males, 36 females) were assessed. They completed self-rating questionnaires covering sociodemographic information, driving violations, traffic accidents, and symptoms of ADHD. Further, participants' visual search and spatial cueing were objectively tested. Results showed that higher symptoms of ADHD were associated with higher traffic violations and accidents, but also with a faster visual search and spatial cueing. Further, higher aging was associated with lower visual search and spatial cueing speed. Both higher ADHD scores and lower age predicted faster visual search and spatial cueing performance. The pattern of results suggests that among adults, symptoms of ADHD appeared to be both negatively associated with higher traffic violations, but also with faster visual search and spatial cueing performance. By contrast, the opposite was true as regards age. To increase traffic safety, both drivers with older age and with symptoms of ADHD appear to demand special attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]