The present study attempted to explore the effects of employing shadowing and tracking on Iranian EFL learners' speaking fluency. From among 112 intermediate Iranian EFL learners at Jahad Danesheshgahi Language Institute in Isfahan, Iran, 60 were selected in the wake of administering the Preliminary English Test and divided into four groups: shadowing group (SG), tracking group (TG), shadowing and tracking group (STG), and control group (CG). The data elicitation techniques employed as the pre-test and post-test were semi-structured interviews in which learners answered several questions. Fluency scores were derived out of the formula suggested by Yuan and Ellis (2003). One-way between-groups ANOVA and paired samples t test were used to make between-groups and within-group comparisons and to discern whether the participants in each group could gain an advantage from their specific methods of instruction. The analysis of the obtained data via SPSS indicated that (a) the successful performance of the participants in the experimental groups was shown to be attributable to using shadowing and tracking techniques as tools for improving oral fluency, and that (b) among these experimental groups, STG was shown to be significantly better than the SG, which in turn was significantly better than TG.

Background:The dynamic binding capacity (DBC) of a chromatography matrix in protein purification is the amount of the total protein absorbed into the matrix, before occurrence of a significant break in the breakthrough curve. Optimization of the process criteria for maximum DBC avoids extra process scale-up and reduces the processing time, costs and protein loss. Taguchi method is a simple useful tool in experimental design to estimate the optimal condition with minimum experiments. Objectives: In this research, linear flow rate, pH and protein concentration of the feed were checked according to an L9 orthogonal Taguchi array, to estimate the best conditions for maximum DBC of Q-sepharose fast flow (QSFF) resin in recombinant human erythropoietin purification process. Materials and Methods: A crud sample containing human recombinant erythropoietin was harvested from a cell culture of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line. Desalted harvests with different total protein concentrations (30, 40 and 50 µg.mL -1 ) and pH values (5, 6 and 7) were loaded into a packed column of QSFF with different linear flow rates (60, 120 and 280 cm.h -1 ) up to 10% of the breakthrough curve. The total protein loading to the column was checked by UV absorbance and Lowry method, and erythropoietin concentration was measured by ELISA. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to determine the optimum condition. Results: Finally, total protein concentration of 50 µg.mL -1 , pH of 5 and flow rate of 120 cm.h -1 , were anticipated as the optimal process conditions with 5.85 mg.mL -1 of resin as the dynamic binding capacity. Conclusions:Experiments with anticipated optimal criteria were performed three times and no significant difference was observed (p = 0.136, and 6.06 mg/mL as the average dynamic binding capacity).

Mycoplasma agalactiae pathogen is the main cause of agalactia in small ruminants and as such, results in some economic losses in Iran. Contagious agalactia disease should be regarded as a syndrome, caused by various Mycoplasmas which infect several organs. In the present study, 30 suspected samples from 11 provinces of Iran were isolated from mammary gland, joint and eyes of sheep and goats and subjected to genus and species detection via PCR technique for 2 genes. These Mycoplasma strains and three Iranian vaccinal strains of Mycoplasma agalactiae were submitted to sequence analysis of a surface lipoprotein called p40 protein. Based on a comparative study between Iranian strains and PG2 Spanish strain of Mycoplasma agalactiae, most Iranian strains presented 97% homology, whereas some strains showed 80-88% and three vaccinal strains were associated with 99% homology. According to PCR and bioinformatics analysis outcomes, 6 provinces of Iran were recognized as infection areas with different expressions of this effecter protein, suggesting that finding the individual characteristics of a particular effecter may require empirical testing for vaccination. Finally, the selected sequence of p40 gene was cloned into pGEMB1cloning vector and subsequently expressed in Escherichia coli by pET-22b+ expression plasmid under the control of the T7 promoter. The expression of this fusion protein was absorbed and confirmed by SDS-PAGE. The recombinant P40 protein was expressed with a molecular mass of 37 kDa on SDS-PAGE. The sera taken from rabbits infected with Mycoplasma agalactiae produced polyclonal antibody which was then used for westernblotting. The rabbits were bled 10 days after the booster immunization using cardiac puncture. Significantly, the use of recombinant specific antigens instead of other tools for diagnosis of a disease could improve the discrimination and separation of positive and negative animals in the area under investigation and therefore, it can be applied to control infected animals and reduce economic losses.

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