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Although the effective role of instruction in developing L2 learners' pragmatic competence has been acknowledged in the literature, very few studies have investigated the effect of a specific language teaching method on the development of pragmatic competence. Thus, to address the existing gap, this study was conducted (1) to investigate the effectiveness of task-based instruction (TBI) on the development of pragmatic competence and (2) to see the effect(s) of information-gap, reasoning-gap, and opinion-gap tasks on the development of EFL learners' pragmatic production, metapragmatic awareness, and comprehension of implicature. To this end, 60 homogeneous intermediate EFL learners were selected and assigned to three groups randomly. The twenty members of each group received instruction on the three speech acts of request, refusal, and apology through one task type, i.e., in group #1, through information-gap, in group #2, through opinion-gap, and in group #3 through reasoning-gap tasks. The findings confirmed the positive effect of TBI on EFL learner's pragmatic competence. Also, learners in the information-gap task group outperformed the other groups on pragmatic production and metapragmatic awareness, but there was no significant difference among the groups regarding their comprehension of implicature. This study has implications for English language instructors, materials developers, and researchers.

Abstract Background Aorta Coarctation (AC) is uncommon condition that in most adult patients is asymptomatic. Diagnosis of AC is made during routine physical examination by detection of Blood Pressure (BP) difference between arm and leg. Aim To describe a novel renal artery Doppler flow pattern pathognomonic of aortic coarctation. Methods We enrolled 4 consecutive patients referred to renal artery Doppler Ultrasonography (DU) for diagnostic work-up of secondary arterial hypertension. All met the following inclusion criteria: 1) arterial hypertension at age Results We found in all 4 patients (age range 10 to 27 years) a bilateral "parvus-tardus" renal Doppler flow pattern. In all, echocardiographic and angiographic work-ups showed aortic coarctation. Conclusion Careful physical examination should be performed in all hypertensive patients. Furthermore, the suspicion of AC can be raised by a bilateral renal arteries "parvus-tardus" Doppler flow pattern in young hypertensive patients screened for secondary hypertension.

Background: Obesity and physical inactivity are currently on the rise due to industrialization of the communities, which has recently led to increased incidence of different diseases such as diabetes. Epidemiological studies and figures have demonstrated the growing incidence of diabetes. Relevantly, the side effects of chemical drugs have led patients to use medicinal plants and traditional approaches despite advances in development of chemical drugs. The aim of this review article is to report the medicinal plants and their traditional uses to prevent and treat diabetes according to the findings of ethnobotanical studies conducted in different regions of Iran. Evidence Acquisitions: The search terms including ethnobotany, ethnomedicine, ethnopharmacology, phytopharmacology, phytomedicine, Iran, and traditional medicine in combination with diabetes, blood sugar and hyperglycemic were searched from scientific databases. Results: The results of this article can be a comprehensive guideline, based on ethnobotany of different regions of Iran, to prevent and treat diabetes. According to this review article, certain plant species such as Urtica dioica L., popularly called nettle, in eight regions, Teucrium polium L., popularly called poleigamander, in five regions, and Trigonella foenumgraecum L., Citrullus colocynthis (L.), Schrad., and Juglans regia L. in four regions, were reported to be frequently used to prevent and treat diabetes Conclusions: The introduced medicinal plants in this review can be investigated in further research and produce new drugs with limited side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer after lung cancer in women. Given that herbal preparations have long been used to treat cancer, this study aimed to investigate the cytotoxic effect of hydroalcholic extract of Kelussia odaratissma Mozaff and Thymus daenesis Celak on MCF-7 cancer cell line. Materials and methods: MCF-7 cancer cells and normal fibroblasts were cultured in DMEM medium containing Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) and antibiotic. The cells were exposed to different doses of hydroalcholic extract of Kelussia odaratissma Mozaff and Thymus daenesis Celak (0.156, 0.312, 0.625, 1.25, 2.5 mg/ml) and were incubated for 24, 48 and 72 hours. After the incubation period, modified colorimetric MTT method was used to determine the cellular toxicity of the extract. Results: The results of the MTT test showed that hydroalcholic extract of Kelussia odaratissma Mozaff and Thymus daenesis Celak had dose-dependent and time-dependent anti-cancer effect on MCF-7 cancer cells. The highest percentage of cell death was observed with the highest concentration of the extract and after 72 h of incubation (p<< 0.05). The extract did not show significant cytotoxicity on normal fibroblasts. Conclusion: Hydroalcholic extract of Kelussia odaratissma Mozaff and Thymus daenesis Celak has cytotoxic effects on MCF-7 cancer cells; however, this extract does not have any cytotoxic effects on normal fibroblasts. It appears that this extract can be used for cancer treatment with further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aorta Coarctation (AC) is uncommon condition that in most adult patients is asymptomatic. Diagnosis of AC is made during routine physical examination by detection of Blood Pressure (BP) difference between arm and leg. Aim: To describe a novel renal artery Doppler flow pattern pathognomonic of aortic coarctation. Methods: We enrolled 4 consecutive patients referred to renal artery Doppler Ultrasonography (DU) for diagnostic work-up of secondary arterial hypertension. All met the following inclusion criteria: 1) arterial hypertension at age <30 years; 2) referred for renal DU to rule out renovascular hypertension. Results: We found in all 4 patients (age range 10 to 27 years) a bilateral "parvus-tardus" renal Doppler flow pattern. In all, echocardiographic and angiographic work-ups showed aortic coarctation. Conclusion: Careful physical examination should be performed in all hypertensive patients. Furthermore, the suspicion of AC can be raised by a bilateral renal arteries "parvus-tardus" Doppler flow pattern in young hypertensive patients screened for secondary hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Fetal movement counting is a method used by mother to quantify her baby's movements. However, the optimal number of movements and the ideal duration of counting them have not been recognized. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of the two common fetal movements counting methods by mother including "ten fetal movements counting in two hours" and "three fetal movements counting in one hour" and to compare the required mean time for counting fetal movements in the two methods., Methods: 300 subjects were selected by random sampling among clients with complains of decreased fetal movements referring to AL-Zahra teaching hospital in Tabriz, Iran. Full training about how to perform the two methods of fetal movements counting and how to record in related tables was instructed by researcher. Immediately after counting movements, biophysical profile test was performed., Results: Among 291 mothers in the two groups, 99.7% had active fetuses based on both methods of fetal movement counting. 96.9% of these active fetuses obtained score of 10 in biophysical profile. There was a statistically significant relation between the results of both two methods of fetal movement counting and the biophysical profile as the gold standard. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of both methods were equally 100%, 96%, 10% and 100%, respectively.Mean time (SD) for ten movement counting was 22.1(4.6) and for three movementcounting was 8.0(2.8) minutes, Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that fetal movement counting test can be used as an initial screening method in predicting fetal health.

Introduction: Amniotic fluid is an important factor in the prediction of fetal survival. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effects of intravenous hydration of mothers on amniotic fluid volume and in turn on pregnancy outcomes., Methods: The current single blind controlled clinical trial was conducted on 20 pregnant mothers with amniotic fluid index of lower or equal to 5 cm and gestational age of 37-41 weeks. The subjects were divided into two groups of case and control through simple random sampling. Amniotic fluid index was measured in all participants. The case group received one liter of isotonic saline during 30 minutes by the bolus method. Reevaluations of amniotic fluid index in both groups were made 90 minutes after baseline measurement. Independent t-test and paired t-test were used to compare the two groups and mean amniotic fluid index before and after treatment, respectively., Results: Hydration of mothers significantly increased the amniotic fluid index in the case group (mean change: 1.5 cm; 95%CI: 0.46 - 2.64; P = 0.01). The mean change of amniotic fluid index in the control group did not significantly increase (P = 0.06). The elevation of amniotic fluid index in the hydration group (32%) was significantly higher than the control group (1%) (P = 0.03)., Conclusion: In this study intravenous hydration increased amniotic fluid index of mothers with term pregnancy and oligohydramnios. Since it caused no complications for the mother and the fetus, it can be used as an effective method in management of oligohydramnios.

Background: One of the main methods for evaluation of fetal well-being is analysis of Doppler flow velocity waveform of fetal vessels. Evaluation of Doppler wave of the middle cerebral artery can predict most of the at-risk fetuses in high-risk pregnancies. In this study, we tried to determine the normal ranges and their trends during pregnancy of Doppler flow velocity indices (resistive index, pulsatility index, systolic-to-diastolic ratio, and peak systolic velocity) of middle cerebral artery in 20 - 40 weeks normal pregnancies in Iranians., Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 1037 women with normal pregnancy and gestational age of 20 to 40 weeks were investigated for fetal middle cerebral artery Doppler examination., Results: Resistive index, pulsatility index, and systolic-to-diastolic ratio values of middle cerebral artery decreased in a parabolic pattern while the peak systolic velocity value increased linearly with progression of the gestational age. These changes were statistically significant (P<0.001 for all four variables) and were more characteristic during late weeks of pregnancy. The mean fetal heart rate was also significantly (P<0.001) reduced in correlation with the gestational age., Conclusion: Doppler waveform indices of fetal middle cerebral artery are useful means for determining fetal well-being. Herewith, the normal ranges of Doppler waveform indices for an Iranian population are presented.