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The present study aimed to compare the effects of information and communication technology (ICT)-based and conventional methods of instruction on ninth-grade students’ academic enthusiasm for L2 learning (English). The statistical population included all ninth-grade students from lower secondary schools for girls located in the city of Tehran, Iran, in 2019–2020. For this purpose, applied research with a quasiexperimental design was employed to meet the study objectives. To select the statistical sample, the convenience sampling method was used, so one school equipped with the essential facilities was chosen to implement the ICT-based education. Then, two classrooms at the given school were selected as the experimental and control groups, each one consisting of 27 students, based on the random sampling method. The research tool was the 15-item Academic Enthusiasm Questionnaire (AEQ) containing behavioral, emotional, and cognitive subscales, and recruiting a five-point Likert-type scale. All the classrooms initially received a pretest, and then the experimental group was instructed by the ICT-based education. Finally, all the study groups completed a posttest. Moreover, inferential and descriptive statistics were applied for data analysis. The study results demonstrated a significant difference in terms of the baseline academic enthusiasm between the experimental and control groups. In addition, the ICT-based method of instruction showed stronger effects on students’ academic enthusiasm than the conventional one.

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In this work, heterostructured catalyst Al2TiO5/TiO2 (ATO/Ti) was synthesized by a two-step method: low-temperature sol-gel process along with hydrothermal treatment in a neutral medium. Characteristics of the fabricated catalyst were analyzed by various techniques including X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller adsorption, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and the point of zero charges. The content of ATO strongly affected the activity of ATO/Ti catalysts for photocatalytic degradation of cinnamic acid (CA). The catalyst, in which 33% TiO2 was replaced by ATO (33ATO/Ti), exhibited the highest activity for the removal of CA. Compared with the bare titanium oxide synthesized in water (TiO2(w)) as well as Al2TiO5 (ATO), the hybrid 33ATO/Ti catalyst exhibited the enhanced photocatalytic activity in the CA degradation under ultraviolet light. The enhancement in the catalytic activity of ATO/Ti could be related to the increase of the specific surface area and the reduction of bandgap energy obtained from the hybridization of TiO2(w) and ATO. The factors as the catalyst dosage ( C cat ), the airflow rate ( Q air ), and the solution initial pH (pH) affected the CA removal efficiency were studied on 33ATO/Ti catalyst. The optimum condition for photodegradation efficiency of CA was found to be at C cat = 0.75   g L − 1 , Q air = 0.3   Lmi n − 1 , and pH = 3.8 . The highest 60-minute removal efficiency of CA reached 77.1% on 33ATO/Ti compared with 67.1% and 30.4% on TiO2(w) and on ATO, respectively. The recyclability of the 33ATO/Ti was also measured at the optimal parameters. The results showed that, compared with TiO2, the hybrid catalyst was easier to recover and reuse, and its activity decreased by 35% after 6 continuous cycles.

Lead poisoning is a public health problem in many areas of the world. Children are at particularly high risk for adverse effects of lead exposure; even at low concentrations, lead can affect physical, mental, and behavioral development. Children living near lead-zinc mines are at high risk for environmental lead poisoning, especially the contaminated soil. We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study in Ban Thi Commune, northern Vietnam. 195 children (92,9% participation) aged 3-14 years old (average: 7.69 ± 2.90) were randomly selected from a list of all children prepared by the village health collaborators. 109 (55.90%) were boys and 86 (44.10%) were girls. The research measures were the lead concentration in native soil and the children's total blood lead concentration determined by the inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) method. The results showed that lead content in soil was many times higher than American Environmental Protection Agency and Vietnam standards (average 2980.23 ± 6092.84 mg/kg dry weight of soil (range 80.05 – 33820.62)). Average blood lead levels for children were 15.42 ± 6.45 μg/dL (95% CI: 14.50 -16.33 μg/dL). The percentage of children with lead levels >10 μg/dL (value considered to be lead poisoning for children according to the Ministry of Health of Vietnam) was 79.49% of the total number of children. None of the children in this study had blood lead level (BLL) that required chelation treatment according to Vietnam MOH guideline (BLL ≥45 μg/dL). There is weakly evidence that lead exposure relates to the physical development of children. Children with low lead concentrations (less than 10 μg/dL) had height and weight of 1.47-3.51 cm and 1.19-2.81 kg, greater than those with BLL >10 μg/dL (p>0.05).