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.

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.

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.

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>

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.

First Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Bacteriophages Infecting Acidovorax citrulli, the Causal Agent of Bacterial Fruit Blotch

Rahimi-Midani, Aryan,Lee, Yong Seok,Kang, Se-Won,Kim, Mi-Kyeong,Choi, Tae-Jin The Korean Society of Plant Pathology 2018 Plant Pathology Journal Vol.34 No.1

Bacteriophages of Acidovorax citrulli, the causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch, were isolated from 39 watermelon, pumpkin, and cucumber leaf samples collected from various regions of Korea and tested against 18 A. citrulli strains. Among the six phages isolated, ACP17 forms the largest plaque, and exhibits the morphology of phages in the Myoviridae family with a head diameter of $100{\pm}5nm$ and tail length of $150{\pm}5nm$. ACP17 has eclipse and latent periods of $25{\pm}5min$ and $50{\pm}5min$, respectively, and a burst size of 120. The genome of ACP17 is 156,281 base pairs with a G + C content of 58.7%, 263 open reading frames, and 4 transfer RNA genes. Blast search and phylogenetic analysis of the major capsid protein showed that ACP17 has limited homology to two Stentrophomonas phages, suggesting that ACP17 is a new type of Myoviridae isolated from A. citrulli.

How effective are artificial nests in attracting bees? A review

Rahimi, Ehsan,Barghjelveh, Shahindokht,Dong, Pinliang The Ecological Society of Korea 2021 Journal of Ecology and Environment Vol.45 No.3

Background: Recent declines in bee populations, along with increasing demand for pollination services in urban, agricultural, and natural environments, have led to strategies to attract wild bees to these areas. One of these strategies is installing artificial nests adjacent to urban gardens and agricultural farms. Bee hotels and nest boxes are among the artificial nests used by gardeners and farmers to attract pollinators. In this paper, we reviewed 50 studies that reported the efficiency of nest boxes and bee hotels in attracting bees. We considered the maximum occupation rate (percentage) as the main index to evaluate the efficiency of artificial nests. Results: The maximum occupation rate of bee hotels was higher in farms (averaged 44.1%) than in forests (averaged 30.3%) and urban (averaged 38.3%) environments. In the case of nest boxes, most studies reported efficiencies of less than 20%, with an occupation rate of 16% and 5.5% on average in forest and urban environments respectively. However, our meta-analysis results showed that there was no significant relationship between the occupation rate of the nests and their installation place. Regression analysis also showed that the structural features of bee hotels (length and diameter) and nest boxes (volume and entrance size) did not affect their efficiency in attracting bees. Conclusion: Our data showed that the strategy of installing artificial nests to attract pollinators is successful only concerning bee hotels, and the use of nest boxes has not been very successful.

Evaluation of BCL6 and MUM1 Expression in Patients with Diffuse Large B cell Lymphoma and their Correlations with Staging and Prognosis in Iran

Rahimi, Hossein,Jafarian, Amirhossein,Samadi, Alireza,Meamar, Bahram,Rahmani, Shaghayegh Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.1

Background: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL), accounting for approximately 25% of NHL cases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the BCL6 and MUM1 gene expression and patient prognosis and stage. Materials and Methods: After ethical approval, in a cross-sectional study, tissue samples of 80 patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma were analyzed for BCL6 and MUM1 gene expression. Immunohistochemical staining was performed with division into categories of 0-5%, 5-25%, 26-50%, 51-75% and more than 75%. Other clinical and histological information such as lymph node involvement, T-stage, B symptoms and patient outcome were also recorded. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 16 and a P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The patient mean age was $46.9{\pm}10.5$ years ($47.6{\pm}10.7$ and $46.1{\pm}9.6$ for males and females, respectively). A significant association was seen between lymphoma stage and BCL6 (p=0.045) but not MUM1 expression (p=0.09). However, the latter was associated with mortality (p=0.006) as was also the BCL6 level (p=0.006). Conclusions: : Overexpression of MUM1 and BCL6 is associated with poor prognosis in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Estimating potential range shift of some wild bees in response to climate change scenarios in northwestern regions of Iran

Rahimi, Ehsan,Barghjelveh, Shahindokht,Dong, Pinliang The Ecological Society of Korea 2021 Journal of Ecology and Environment Vol.45 No.3

Background: Climate change is occurring rapidly around the world, and is predicted to have a large impact on biodiversity. Various studies have shown that climate change can alter the geographical distribution of wild bees. As climate change affects the species distribution and causes range shift, the degree of range shift and the quality of the habitats are becoming more important for securing the species diversity. In addition, those pollinator insects are contributing not only to shaping the natural ecosystem but also to increased crop production. The distributional and habitat quality changes of wild bees are of utmost importance in the climate change era. This study aims to investigate the impact of climate change on distributional and habitat quality changes of five wild bees in northwestern regions of Iran under two representative concentration pathway scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). We used species distribution models to predict the potential range shift of these species in the year 2070. Result: The effects of climate change on different species are different, and the increase in temperature mainly expands the distribution ranges of wild bees, except for one species that is estimated to have a reduced potential range. Therefore, the increase in temperature would force wild bees to shift to higher latitudes. There was also significant uncertainty in the use of different models and the number of environmental layers employed in the modeling of habitat suitability. Conclusion: The increase in temperature caused the expansion of species distribution and wider areas would be available to the studied species in the future. However, not all of this possible range may include high-quality habitats, and wild bees may limit their niche to suitable habitats. On the other hand, the movement of species to higher latitudes will cause a mismatch between farms and suitable areas for wild bees, and as a result, farmers will face a shortage of pollination from wild bees. We suggest that farmers in these areas be aware of the effects of climate change on agricultural production and consider the use of managed bees in the future.