The Changing Role of Teachers in Preparing Future Generations: The Implications of Globalization & Technology on the Education System

Ramy A. Rahimi(Ramy A. Rahimi ),Kyung-Hye Park(Kyung-Hye Park) 한국캐나다학회 2020 Asia-Pacific Journal of Canadian Studies (APJCS) Vol.26 No.1

The research paper aims to understand how globalization affects all sectors of education and instigates them to transform and change. Also, comprehending how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have the power to complement, enrich and positively transform education. This study finds that modern-day education reform and expansion needs to be regarded from the global contexts of decentralization and marketization perspectives. Likewise, the American Education System has been forced to reform rapidly in the past 3 decades, where it has seen many failures. Similarly, the use of ICT for active teaching has presented an efficient model in terms of integrating these technologies into teaching and learning practices. Additionally, teachers work in increasingly complex and diverse settings. Subsequently, this article serves as preliminary research that raises research questions on the impact of globalization and technology on education and the changing role of teachers and educators. Based on the above, this article suggests the adoption of the 4C’s of 21st century learning – collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking, as a vital supplement to public education, educators and teachers in order to prepare students for future jobs. Teachers and educators play undoubtedly a fundamental role in the education transformation and improvements at the school or university level. In order to understand the changing role of the teachers in the 21st century, a study on the subjective world of the teacher as well as the analysis of the factors that influence the ever-changing global education is deemed necessary.

Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 -1562T Allele and its Combination with MMP-2 -735 C Allele are Risk Factors for Breast Cancer

Rahimi, Zohreh,Yari, Kheirolah,Rahimi, Ziba Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.3

Background: Expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) is up-regulated in human cancers. The aim of present study was to investigate the role of MMP-9 C-1562T polymorphism and its interaction with MMP-2 C-735T polymorphism in susceptibility to breast cancer in a population from Western Iran with Kurdish ethnic background. Materials and Methods: The study sample of 205 individuals consisted of 101 breast cancer patients and 104 healthy subjects. MMP-9 C-1562T and MMP-2 C-735T variants were identified using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Results: Among 67.4% of studied patients the breast cancer developed in the third and forth decades of the life. The frequency of MMP-9 T allele was 17.3% in patients and 10.1% in controls. The presence of T allele significantly increased the risk of breast cancer by 1.87-fold [OR=1.87 (95% CI 1.05-3.33, p=0.035)]. The frequency of MMP-9 CT+TT genotype tended to be higher in those patients with a family history of cancer in first degree-relatives (36.8%) than those without a family history (28.3%, p=0.37). We observed an interaction between the MMP-9 -1562 T allele with MMP-2 -735 C allele that significantly increased the risk of breast cancer [OR=1.42 (95% CI 1.02-1.98, p=0.036)]. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that MMP-9 C-1562T polymorphism alone and in combination with MMP-2 C-735T polymorphism increased the risk of breast cancer that might be a useful biomarker in identifying women at risk of developing breast cancer. Also, this study revealed that in most women from Western Iran breast cancer presents in third and fourth decades of life.

A predictive mechanoluminescence transduction model for thin-film SrAl₂O₄:Eu²⁺, Dy³⁺ (SAOED) stress sensor

Rahimi, M.R.,Yun, G.J.,Choi, J.S. Elsevier Science 2014 Acta materialia Vol.77 No.-

This paper proposes a phenomenological stress-optics transduction model for predicting mechanoluminescence (ML) light intensity from a thin-film ML coating sensor subjected to in-plane stresses. Recent findings on the considerable effects of persistent luminescence (PL) decay on ML phenomena (Rahimi MR, Yun GJ, Doll GL, Choi JS. Opt Lett 2013;38:193235) have motivated the incorporation of critical factors (i.e. strain rate, stress-free PL decay time interval, photoexcitation time, instantaneous PL decay rate, etc.) into a predictive ML transduction model. In the proposed model, the total ML+PL light emission is subdivided into a net ML emission, stress-free PL decay, and additional stress-induced PL decay. These are separately modeled and combined on the basis of interaction of the ML phenomena with PL decay and the effects of strain rates and PL decay time intervals. Predictions by the proposed model were found to agree well with experimental results. The relative total ML+PL light intensity was also proven to be linearly proportional to the mechanical strain energy. The proposed predictive model can be broadly used in the design of ML sensing film and in applications for the calibration process.

Cancer Notification at a Referral Hospital of Kermanshah, Western Iran (2006-2009)

Rahimi, Zohreh,Kasraei, Razieh,Najafi, Farid,Tanhapoor, Maryam,Abdi, Hamed,Rahimi, Ziba,Vaisi-Raygani, Asad,Aznab, Mozafar,Moradi, Mahmoudreza Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.1

Background: Cancer is a major public health problem and the leading cause of mortality in both males and females in developed and developing countries. The incidence of cancer is gender dependent. Among Iranians, it is the third cause of death. Materials and Methods: The information recorded in the files of all patients (7,695 individuals) pathologically diagnosed with cancer in Imam Reza referral hospital of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences during the four year period of 2006-2009 were reviewed and analyzed using SPSS statistical software package version 16.0. Results: Around 61.6% of reported cancer cases were males and 38.4% were females. The most prevalent reported malignant tumors occurred at the age group of 70-79 years in males and in females these tumors were presented in the ages of 60-69 years. The most prevalent cancers among studied patients were gastrointestinal (GI) cancers with a frequency of 22.9% [gastric 10.7%, colorectal 6.9%, and esophageal 6%]. The second, third and forth prevalent cancers were blood at 16.4%, lung 13.5% and bladder 12.8%, respectively. In males the cancers of GI (25.6%) were the most prevalent followed in order of frequency by bladder (18%), blood (17.6%), lung (17.4%) and prostate (6.8%). In females the most frequent recorded cancer was breast (24.1%) followed in order of frequency by GI (20.5%), blood (14.4%), lung (7.3%), uterus (6.2%) and ovary (5.1%). Breast cancer was the most prevalent cancer (27%) in the age group of 40-49 years. Conclusions: The present study provides frequency data for various types of cancers in both males and females from a referral hospital of Kermanshah that are comparable with some reports from other areas of the country.

Study on Cu/Ni Nano Superlattice Conductors for Reduced RF Loss

Rahimi, Arian,Yong-Kyu Yoon THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS 2016 IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters Vol. No.

<P>We report on Cu/Ni paired superlattice conductors featuring reduced radio frequency (RF) loss based on eddy current cancelling (ECC). Also, the effects of the width and the individual layer thickness of the superlattice conductors have been studied for improved RF performance. The usage of Ni as the ferromagnetic material in the non-ferromagnetic/ferromagnetic superlattice structure is advantageous as it has a high contrast between the in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic coercivity fields making it suitable for effective thin film superlattice ECC, is abundant, and does not require a stoichiometric control of composition as other alloy magnetic materials do. Ni's negative permeability is also able to effectively cancel out the positive permeability of copper in the frequency of interest. A transmission line consisting of 10superlattice Cu/Ni layers, with each layer being of 150 nm/25 nm totaling 1.75 μm shows the same resistance value as one consisting of 10 Cu/Ni layers with each being 600 nm/100 nm totaling 7 μm thick at 13 GHz, revealing 75% conductor volume reduction. Experimental results show more than three times improvement in the figure of merit defined as frequency/effective resistivity, compared with other state-of-the-art devices.</P>

<i>PgLOX6</i> encoding a lipoxygenase contributes to jasmonic acid biosynthesis and ginsenoside production in <i>Panax ginseng</i>

Rahimi, Shadi,Kim, Yu-Jin,Sukweenadhi, Johan,Zhang, Dabing,Yang, Deok-Chun Oxford University Press 2016 Journal of experimental botany Vol.67 No.21

<▼1><P><B>Highlight</B></P><P>In ginseng, jasmonic acid promotes expression of the biosynthetic genes for ginsenosides. <I>PgLOX6</I> encodes a lipoxygenase that is required for biosynthesis of jasmonic acid and its overexpression increases ginsenoside levels.</P></▼1><▼2><P>Ginsenosides, the valuable pharmaceutical compounds in <I>Panax ginseng</I>, are triterpene saponins that occur mainly in ginseng plants. It was shown that <I>in vitro</I> treatment with the phytohormone jasmonic acid (JA) is able to increase ginsenoside production in ginseng plants. To understand the molecular link between JA biosynthesis and ginsenoside biosynthesis, we identified a JA biosynthetic 13-lipoxygenase gene (<I>PgLOX6</I>) in <I>P. ginseng</I> that promotes ginsenoside production. The expression of <I>PgLOX6</I> was high in vascular bundles, which corresponds with expression of ginsenoside biosynthetic genes. Consistent with the role of <I>PgLOX6</I> in synthesizing JA and promoting ginsenoside synthesis, transgenic plants overexpressing <I>PgLOX6</I> in Arabidopsis had increased amounts of JA and methyl jasmonate (MJ), increased expression of triterpene biosynthetic genes such as <I>squalene synthase</I> (<I>AtSS1</I>) and <I>squalene epoxidase</I> (<I>AtSE1</I>), and increased squalene content. Moreover, transgenic ginseng roots overexpressing <I>PgLOX6</I> had around 1.4-fold increased ginsenoside content and upregulation of ginsenoside biosynthesis-related genes including <I>PgSS1</I>, <I>PgSE1</I>, and <I>dammarenediol synthase</I> (<I>PgDDS</I>), which is similar to that of treatment with MJ. However, MJ treatment of transgenic ginseng significantly enhanced JA and MJ, associated with a 2.8-fold increase of ginsenoside content compared with the non-treated, non-transgenic control plant, which was 1.4 times higher than the MJ treatment effect on non-transgenic plants. These results demonstrate that <I>PgLOX6</I> is responsible for the biosynthesis of JA and promotion of the production of triterpenoid saponin through up-regulating the expression of ginsenoside biosynthetic genes. This work provides insight into the role of JA in biosynthesizing secondary metabolites and provides a molecular tool for increasing ginsenoside production.</P></▼2>

PollMap: a software for crop pollination mapping in agricultural landscapes

Rahimi Ehsan,Barghjelveh Shahindokht,Dong Pinliang,Pirlar Maghsoud Arshadi,Jahanbakhshian Mohammad Mehdi 한국생태학회 2021 Journal of Ecology and Environment Vol.45 No.4

Background: Ecosystem service mapping is an important tool for decision-making in landscape planning and natural resource management. Today, pollination service mapping is based on the Lonsdorf model (InVEST software) that determines the availability of nesting and floral resources for each land cover and estimates pollination according to the foraging range of the desired species. However, it is argued that the Lonsdorf model has significant limitations in estimating pollination in a landscape that can affect the results of this model. Results: This paper presents a free software, named PollMap, that does not have the limitations of the Lonsdorf model. PollMap estimates the pollination service according to a modified version of the Lonsdorf model and assumes that only cells within the flight range of bees are important in the pollination mapping. This software is produced for estimating and mapping crop pollination in agricultural landscapes. The main assumption of this software is that in the agricultural landscapes, which are dominated by forest and agriculture ecosystems, forest patches serve only as a nesting habitat for wild bees and the surrounding fields provide floral resources. Conclusion: The present study provided new software for mapping crop pollination in agricultural landscapes that does not have the limitations of the Lonsdorf model. We showed that the use of the Lonsdorf model for pollination mapping requires attention to the limitations of this model, and by removing these limitations, we will need new software to obtain a reliable mapping of pollination in agricultural landscapes.

A Pharmacological Review on Portulaca oleracea L.: Focusing on Anti-Inflammatory, Anti- Oxidant, Immuno-Modulatory and Antitumor Activities

Rahimi, Vafa Baradaran,Ajam, Farideh,Rakhshandeh, Hasan,Askari, Vahid Reza KOREAN PHARMACOPUNCTURE INSTITUTE 2019 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.22 No.1

Portulaca oleracea L. (PO) or Purslane is an annual grassy plant that is distributed in many parts of the world, especially the tropical and subtropical areas. PO has some pharmacological properties such as analgesic, antibacterial, skeletal muscle-relaxant, wound-healing, anti- inflammatory and a radical scavenger. This review article is focused on the anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulatory, anti-oxidant and anti-tumor activities of the PO. Anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulatory, anti-oxidant and Anti-tumor effects of PO were searched using various databases until the end of August 2018. The online literature was searched using PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Google Scholar and Web of Science. Our review showed that PO exerts its effects through anti-inflammatory properties and balancing the adaptive and innate immune system depending on situations. PO acts as immune-modulator and anti-oxidant agent in both inflammatory states by the dominance of Th2 response such as asthma, cancer and atopic dermatitis and evoked Th1 disorders including hepatitis and multiple sclerosis.

Isolation and characterization of Panax ginseng geranylgeranyl-diphosphate synthase genes responding to drought stress

Rahimi, Shadi,Kim, Yu-Jin,Devi, Balusamy Sri Renuka,Khorolragchaa, Altanzul,Sukweenadhi, Johan,Yang, Deok-Chun Springer-Verlag 2015 European Journal of Plant Pathology Vol.142 No.4

Zero-Voltage-Transition Synchronous DC-DC Converters with Coupled Inductors

Rahimi, Akbar,Mohammadi, Mohammad Reza The Korean Institute of Power Electronics 2016 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.16 No.1

A new family of zero-voltage-transition converters with synchronous rectification is introduced in this study. Soft switching condition for all the converter operating points is provided in the proposed converters. The reverse recovery losses of the rectifier switch body diode are also eliminated. In comparison with the main switch voltage stress, the auxiliary switch voltage stress is reduced significantly. The auxiliary switch does not need the floating gate drive. The auxiliary inductor is coupled with the main converter inductor, and the leakage inductor is used as the resonance inductor. Thus, all inductors of the proposed converter can be implemented on a single core. The other features of the proposed converters include no extra voltage and current stresses on the main converter semiconductor elements. Theoretical analysis for a synchronous buck converter is presented in detail, and the validity of the theoretical analysis is justified with the experimental results of a prototype buck converter with 180 W and 80 V to 30 V.