Postmodernism represents skepticism toward metanarratives and universal ideologies that dominated the modernist era. The study focuses on three key postmodernist concepts - alternative assessment, process syllabi, and self-directed learning. Alternative assessment emphasizes evaluating the learning process over summative testing. Process syllabi focus on the learning experience rather than rigid outcomes. Self-directed learning enables student responsibility in setting learning goals and processes. This paper examined the effects of postmodernist educational concepts on improving Iranian EFL learners’ AUTONOMY. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design was utilized with 60 intermediate level Iranian EFL students divided into an experimental and control group (n=30 each). The experimental group received instruction utilizing the three postmodernist concepts over 14 weeks, while the control group received traditional modernist instruction. AUTONOMY was measured using a validated questionnaire before and after the intervention. The results showed the experimental group demonstrated significant increases in AUTONOMY compared to the control group. Paired sample t-tests revealed significant differences between pre-test and post-test AUTONOMY for the experimental group across all three postmodern concepts - alternative assessment, process syllabi, and self-directed learning. This suggests postmodernist concepts that decentralize instruction and emphasize student process over outcomes can enhance Iranian EFL learners’ self-direction and responsibility for language acquisition. The study implies EFL syllabus designers and instruction should transition to postmodern models centered on individualized assessment, flexible syllabi, and student-guided learning to boost AUTONOMY. Further research can expand sample sizes and explore additional postmodernist concepts across diverse demographics.

Background: Entrococci is a clinically important pathogenic bacterium in UTIs. CHROMagar ORIENTATION is a recently method for rapid, easy and economic isolation and identification of entrococci. This study compares the chromogenic media with traditional methods for presumptive identification of entrococci from urine specimen. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 240 gram positive cocci from urine specimens. These isolated microorganisms were inoculated on CHROMagar ORIENTATION and were presumptively identified according to manufacturer instruction. The identity of all isolated microorganisms was then confirmed by conventional identification tests and compared with the results obtained from CHROMagar ORIENTATION. Results: In this study, the sensitivity and specificity of CHROMagar ORIENTATION to identify entrococci, solely, were 100% and 40.8%, respectively. Conclusion: Although CHROMagar ORIENTATION was rapid and sensitive method for identification of entrococci in urine culture, CHROMagar ORIENTATION alone appeared not to be very specific for entrococci and needed to be combined with other tests for greater exclusivity. So, CHROMagar ORIENTATION media is not recommended for routine usages in medical laboratories in Iran.

Kant realizes the principle of AUTONOMY of the will as the sublime principle of morality. To him, if the principles we will are constituted by a being which poses universal laws, our "will or want" also acts autonomously and independently. Accordingly, moral laws are not only posed by humankind herself but she obliges herself to act according to the laws she herself has posed. Therefore, Kant takes AUTONOMY into meticulous consideration in the realm of action and agency. With this in mind, the current article analyzes this principle on the basis of three extant interpretations of AUTONOMY that is individual, moral, and political autonomies; it elucidates these three kinds of AUTONOMY while referring to their propinquity with Kant' s. Ultimately, it comes in conclusion that whereas they have been grounded in different contexts, they do not mainly differ from Kant's AUTONOMY of the will because of their commonality in the two meanings of "being free from dependence" and "capability to pose laws". For Kant, the AUTONOMY of the will can be treated as some kind of moral AUTONOMY: one must be bound/subjected to duties of morality in order to apply or act according merely to one's individual AUTONOMY thereby the political sovereignty can also achieves its entire AUTONOMY.

This paper examines ethics and politics. The authors have focused their research on the concept of "AUTONOMY." Regarding philosophical or political approaches to liberalism, any discussion of ethics, politics, or justice is inextricably linked to AUTONOMY. This article studies liberal narratives of AUTONOMY alongside counter-approaches that have challenged liberal claims regarding the concept's political and philosophical applications. The authors conclude that the liberal conception of the autonomous individual as a metaphysical principle is the source of morality. During this investigation, it was determined that this metaphysical principle, in its border sense, produces a moral paradox in liberalism. The significance of AUTONOMY in liberal ethics is the central question of this paper. As a working hypothesis, we examine the relationship between liberal ethics and AUTONOMY in our search for the appropriate response. Textualism was used as a method in this paper. Unlike discourse analysis or hermeneutic methodologies, textualism focuses on the literal meaning of concepts and phrases. In other words, concepts are interpreted according to their meaning, not their authors' intentions, historical contexts, or discourse relationships. It is to interpret a concept in light of the organization of power in a society and its specific meaning in the text as it initially comes to mind. Due to this methodological requirement, the authors have attempted to provide evidence for their claims and hypotheses.

Reproduction is a natural inclination in human beings. Having a child has become more important for human beings, as they see their eternity and survival in child bearing. However, one may temporarily or permanently remove his natural ability to reproduce. Despite the indirect intervention of governments to enforce family planning policies through taking specific measures, there are many cases in which individuals wish to make themselves infertile due to medical, psychological, cultural, economic or social reasons. Voluntarily reducing or removing fertility potential may be done through various methods. It could be done through a mutually legal consent in a contract with a physician or an unnamed contract between couples or stated as in implied conditions included in marriage or employment contracts. A number of questions may be raised in this regard: Can human beings make themselves infertile and destroy this divine ability, or could this right be regulated? Or how can we integrate AUTONOMY in reproduction and family planning policies? In fact, no one is legally allowed to completely remove one’s freedom to reproduction. However, a partial / a conditional permission for removal is legally possible. After all, it is necessary to clarify and distinguish between general and partial willful removal of one’s reproduction capability, according to the criteria of age and duration of removal. Finally, the aforesaid clarification and distinctions are not always an easy task to make.