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The debate about the international order, how it is changed and built, as well as its types, has been one of the most important subjects in the literature of international relations. From the perspective of this paper, this issue can have a very important value in foreign policy literature, because attention the types of order and how to deal with it can be considered as one of the important preconditions in the successful foreign policy making. In this regard, this article by assuming three parallel orders in the current international system, i.e. "hegemonic order, balance of power order and institutional order", seeks to answer the question of how the most important policy prescriptions of Iran in these three orders should be? In response to this question, it is suggested that Iran should be considered as a rational actor and constitutive revisionist in the hegemonic order, as a rational actor and security or power seeking actor in the balance of power order, and as a norm-creating and idea-creating actor in the institutional order. Each of these roles requires the use of specific policies that will be discussed in the article. This research is considered a prescriptive research whose policy prescriptions are according to the theoretical framework of the relevant literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem Definition: What are the reasons for Saudi Arabia's conservative foreign policy shift to an aggressive approach after the Arab spring in Yemen? Purpose: Investigating and analyzing the causes of the Saudi military invasion of Yemen from two geopolitical and ideological aspects and its impact on Saudi Arabia's balancing policy with Iran. Methodology: The study was conducted using the descriptive-analytic method. Data collection method was library one using scientific and research papers and online sites. The theoretical framework of this paper was derived from the theory of balance of power, which emphasizes the (relative) equality of power between the two rival blocs, providing a useful theoretical framework for examining the shift in the conservative approach of Saudi foreign policy to the aggressive approach following the Arab spring developments in Yemen. Result: The findings of this article suggest that Ansarullah's full control over Yemen could change the balance of power for Iran's benefit by endangering Saudi security (provoking Shiites in the south and east as well as threatening oil transit through the strategic Bab al- Mandab Strait) and expand its sphere of influence in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has changed its conservative foreign policy approach to an aggressive foreign policy towards Yemen after changes in Islamic awakening for expanding its influence and maximizing its security on the one hand and to curb the expansion of Iranian influence in the region with the aim of weakening the axis of resistance and balancing strategy on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: During recent decades, Iran and Turkmenistan have become reliable neighbours. But when these two countries want to develop their cooperation in the field of energy and export their gas to Europe through Turkey, they face different obstacles and challenges in issues such as bilateral relations, the Turkish energy market and the European Union. The purpose of this research is to examine the situation of Iran and Turkmenistan in the field of energy and the issue of gas transit to Europe through Turkey. Research Question: The main question is, what are the opportunities and challenges of Turkmenistan gas transit from Iran and Turkey to Europe? Research Hypothesis: The hypothesis of this research is based on the positive relations between Turkey, Iran and Turkmenistan and the geopolitical position of Iran, the connection with the opportunities and sanctions of the United States on Iran's energy sector, Russia's pressure on Turkmenistan for the exclusive purchase of gas, which is the most important challenge for the transit of gas from Turkmenistan to Europe. Methodology (and theoretical framework if there are): In this paper, the qualitative research method for studying the hypothesis is based on Peter McLaughlin's functional explanation. The data collection tool is based on library and internet resources. The theoretical framework of this research is based on the regional system proposed by Louis Cantori and Steven Spiegel. By combining this framework with functionalism, it examines the cooperation and competition of governments and analyzes the factors of convergence and divergence in the relations of these countries. Results and Discussion: The analysis of this research shows that Iran and Turkmenistan have expanded their economic relations. The opening of the Mashhad-Sarkhs-Tajan railway lines and the Bafaq-Bandar Abbas railway line is considered as an important economic measure for the development of economic and trade relations between Iran and Turkmenistan. Also, the cooperation of the two countries in technical and engineering projects with numerous investments of Iranian technicians in this field has also been important. Iran and Turkmenistan pursue their economic cooperation within the framework of the Joint Economic Commission. The main export of goods from Iran is related to Turkmenistan, and since 2013, the volume of trade between the two countries has increased, especially with Khorasan Razavi Province.With 5900 industrial units, 46 mineral resources and approximately 800 mines, Khorasan Razavi province has a high rank in the production of products such as saffron, pistachios, pomegranates and medicinal plants and mainly exports these products to Turkmenistan. The implementation of the border-crossing-permit plan between Iran and Turkmenistan has also provided the basis for the movement of nationals of both countries in the border areas. Turkmenistan's gas reserves are scattered throughout the country. In addition to the huge gas resources and significant production in this country, the discovery of Yultan gas field near Iran's Daulatabad field has put Turkmenistan in the focus of Iran's attention. The desire of Iran and Turkmenistan to cooperate made Turkmenistan agree to the construction of the country's first pipeline in July 1995. The Kerpcheh-Kordkoy pipeline was built in 1997 at a cost of over $200 million to transport gas to northern Iran from the Kerpcheh gas field. With abundant gas resources, Turkmenistan negotiated with Iran to export gas from Iran to Europe via Turkey. Due to its geopolitical position, Turkey has become an energy pole and this has created an opportunity for this country to gain more economic benefits. The European Union (EU) has become heavily dependent on foreign energy resources in recent decades. Due to its geopolitical position, Turkey has become an energy hub that connects the Middle East, Russia and Europe. Many gas pipelines pass through Turkey, transporting gas from Central Asia and the Middle East to Europe. However, some of these pipeline projects have been suspended for some time. Turkey has given the green light to Iran's presence in the Turkish gas market (to Europe) and the Tabriz-Ankara pipeline operates in this direction. Conclusion: The findings indicate that first, long borders and economic capacities in Turkmenistan are like the gateway for Iran to enter this country and the two countries have cooperated in the field of natural gas transportation projects. Second, Turkmenistan's rich gas resources and various gas fields led this country to build the first Kerpcheh-Kordkoy gas pipeline with Iran, which met the gas consumption needs of Iran's northern provinces. Simultaneously with the construction of this pipeline, the issue of Turkmenistan gas transit from Iran to Turkey was raised so that Iran would receive transit rights. With Najmuddin Arbakan coming to power in Turkey in 1997, bilateral relations between Iran and Turkey improved significantly and Turkey's economic growth has led to an increasing need for gas imports. In this regard, Turkey has increased its gas transit pipelines in recent years. Europe's effort to diversify its gas imports from exporting countries and not relying only on Russia has provided the opportunity for Turkey to become the energy hub of the region by importing gas from Iran (and even other countries) and using its geopolitical position to re-export energy and gas to European markets. The improvement of relations between Iran and Turkey and the transit of gas to Europe have strengthened their economic growth, but the US sanctions against Iran and possible obstruction of gas exports by Iran in the case of incresing US pressure, may prevent them from making profits in their bilateral transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Exposure to lead and its effects on children's health is one of the most important and widespread concerns of human societies today. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic study was to evaluate blood lead levels in Iranian children. Materials and Methods: In this systematic review, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Scientific Information Database (SID), and Iran Medex databases were comprehensively searched for papers published from 2005 to the end of October 2021. Studies that reported blood lead levels in Iranian children were collected. Then the articles were evaluated according to a pre-prepared checklist. Results: Of a total of 143 articles found in the initial search, 13 studies were included in our systematic review. The lowest and highest mean blood lead levels were 0.65 micrograms per deciliter in Abadan and 57.1 micrograms per deciliter in Mashhad, respectively. In three studies conducted in Mashhad and Isfahan, blood lead levels were reported to be higher than 5 Micrograms per deciliter in all children studied. The level of education of the father, the use of canned food, the habit of eating soil by the child, damage to the paint of the house, and the reduction of blood iron levels were the effective factors in increasing the blood lead levels in Iranian children. Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of blood lead samples above 5 micrograms per deciliter in some studies, reducing the exposure to lead should be seriously pursued by health policy makers and health systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical location of Iran in arid and semi-arid regions has strongly affected its food security, water resources and weather- and climate-related extreme events due to climate change. Global warming, on average, increases precipitation on Earth by increasing evaporation from the oceanic surface that enters the atmosphere, but the response of the West Asian region to global warming is generally a decrease in precipitation. Some studies have confirmed a decrease in the average precipitatiomn of Iran with an increase of precipitation in the south and southeast of the country. They also confirmed that the largest decrease in the precipitation of Iran occurs in the Zagros region. To this end, in this study, an overview of possible changes in precipitation trends in 43 stations of Iran is presented. To achieve the goals of the paper, the data of four Earth System Models from CMIP6 models, including MIROC6, FGOALS_g3, BCC-CSM2-MR and ACCESS-ESM1-5 were used. The precipitation output of the selected models has been statistically downscaled using CMHyd software for 43 synoptic stations over Iran. Observational period of 1985-2014 and the next three 25-year periods as the near future 2020-2026, the mid future 2075-2051 and the far future 2100-2076 were considered as study periods. Future changes in precipitation under three Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSP) scenarios of SSP1-2.6, SSP2- 4.5 and SSP5-8.5 were estimated. During the downscaling process, the Classius-Clapiron (CC) rate was applied to increase the trend of heavy rainfall. The air holding capacity is controlled by the Clausius-Clapiron relation, which is the water vapour holding capacity of the air at 7%/oC, the so-called Clausius-Clapeyron (CC) rate (bellow equation).... Since the maximum temperature increase in the country was considered 10 degrees Celsius based on the worst possible scenario (SSP5-8.5), so all severe precipitation events were projected that were above the threshold of 130% compared to the normal period that were reduced to 130% of its normal amount. The results showed that future rainfall changes were not significant in about 78% of the stations. The increase and decrease of rainfall were significant in 19% and 3% of the stations, respectively. The largest increase in precipitation will occur in the south-southeast and the largest decrease will occur in the central Zagros area. The average rainfall of the country will increase by 0.4% annually (with a uncertainty range of 14%). On a seasonal scale, precipitation changes in spring, summer, autumn and winter were estimated to be + 15.2, -11, -6 and +3.5, respectively. Although a 15.2% increase in precipitation is projected for spring, the range of uncertainty with 81.9% indicates a lack of confidence in future precipitation estimates of spring season. The maximum uncertainty is related to the spring rains, which shows that the rains of this season are becoming more and more distrustful. Under warming conditions, more spring rainfall increases will occur. In summer, in the near future, summer rains tend to increase and then decrease with more level of Global Warming. After spring, most uncertainty is related to summer precipitation. The autumn precipitation tends to be less than normal with lower amount of uncertainty, although its decrease is not significant. The small range of the autumn rainfall uncertainty chart indicates the agreement of different model-scenarios in projection of autumn rainfall. Winter rainfall projection does not have significant uncertainty and almost all modelscenarios agree on the relatively low trend of rainfall increase. In this season, under higher amount of Global Warming, the precipitation increases and the amplitude of uncertainty also increases. Among the next three periods, the lowest and highest range of uncertainty in the annual changes of precipitation in the first and last decade of the present century will occur with the range of changes of 14 and 29.1%, respectively. The lowest and highest amplitude of uncertainty on the seasonal scale with 3.6 and 81.9 are estimated in winter (near future) and spring (far future), respectively. This situation indicates that in the future most precipitation fluctuations will occur in the spring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Dentistry is an important profession ensuring the health of body and soul, and has a special place in the scientific productions of medical disciplines. The purpose of this study was to analyze the co-citation and word co-occurrence of Iranian research papers in the field of dentistry based on indexed documents in Web of Science from 2014 to 2018. Materials and Methods: The present study follows the procedures related to quantitative research with a descriptive approach and a scientometric technique. Co-citation and cooccurrence analysis techniques were used. In this study, 1079 articles were reviewed from the Web of Science. Data analysis was performed Ucinet Software, and VOS viewer. Results: Iran has the highest level of international cooperation with the United States. The highest number of published articles in the Web of Science Database belongs to Vahid Derakhshani based on the highest degree of centrality, the Eigen centrality, and the Betweenness centrality. Naser Amin Abadi ranked first for the Closeness Centrality metric, and Massoud Peirokh with a citation weight of 20 had the highest citation. The field of surgery has received the most attention among dental and endodontics journal had the highest citation in the Iranian Dental Science Citation Network. Conclusion: The trend of publishing scientific articles in Iran in the field of dentistry has been increasing during the selected period. The keywords oral, dental, and pediatric surgery have the most effective and decisive role in the scientific network of dentistry. These keywords provided strong scientific communication amongst the dental scholars in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The extent of development of a country is determined by research indicators such as the number of published articles. Many factors can cause a lack of research. Objective: The present study aimed at identifying obstacles to the implementation of the research from the viewpoint of faculty members of Guilan University of Medical Sciences in 2018. Materials and Methods: In this combined research, the quantitative data were collected by the faculty members of the research pathology questionnaire. The appropriate statistical indices were used to describe the data. In the qualitative section, sampling was purposeful and continued until data saturation. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and data analysis was carried out using a seven-step content analysis approach. The accuracy and accuracy of the data were also determined by Lincoln & Guba's proposed criteria. Results: In the quantitative part, the most important inhibitor factors include management factors (low communication between university and foreign universities), empowerment factors (lack of familiarity with relevant statistical techniques), administrative rules (length of paper publishing stages), and personal factors (teaching too much), social factors (inadequate intellectual incentives) and economic factors (inadequate research budget and lack of research facilities). In the qualitative section, the four main categories (individual challenges, dysfunctional infrastructure, Limited Research Partner, and discouragement of the research result) and fifteen sub-floors were extracted. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, in order to improve the quantitative and qualitative research among faculty members, it is suggested that the respective authorities consider such issues as strengthening the research motivation of faculty members taking advantage of research facilities and special privileges, and also equivalence of research tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the northeast of Iran, there are some outcrops of high-Mg ultramafic volcanic rocks. These rocks have been interpreted as an ideal ophiolite sequence related to the closure of Paleo-Tethys. According to detailed field observations, the komatiitic lava flows in Shandiz- Virani- Mashhad Complex (SVMC) and Fariman Complex (FC) are interlayered with the Upper Paleozoic submarine turbiditic sediments (Carboniferous- Permian). These rocks have a wide range of volcanic facies and according to the lithofacies characteristics, are divided into three groups of differentiated, undifferentiated lava flows and pillow lavas with a variety of volcanic textures and glass groundmass and with the main minerals of olivine, chromian spinel, clinopyroxene and amphibole. In this paper, the komatiitic nature of these rocks has been proven by explicit evidence from the field features petrography, internal stratigraphy and mineral chemistry. Also, the interaction of a mantle plume with the late Paleozoic (Permian) northeast subduction zone of Paleo-Tethys in NE Iran is considered as the suitable petrogenetic model involved in the genesis of the Komatiitic magma. This model can well justify and interpret the various geochemical characteristics of the studied rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The folded Zagros is a part of the active Zagros belt in the southwest of Iran. This area has main faults and active rock formations, the activity of these faults has somehow affected the strata and sediments of different geological periods. In this study First, by studying satellite images and aerial photographs, five locations were selected in different parts of Fars and the hinterland of Bandar Abbas, and finally, the tectonostratigraphy of these locations was compared with each other. The sinology column and the paleogeographical map of these regions in the Miocene period were reconstructed Using the data obtained from five places of folded Zagros (Bastak, Bahar anticline, Arjan plain, Saadi mountain and Yasouj). The obtained results and the resulting diagrams were obtained using the RockWorks geological program. the minimum and maximum stratified thicknesses of the Miocene period formation in these five studied points are related to Arjan Plain and Saadi mountain sections By comparing the obtained results and the Hesar diagrams and the isopach map. It was done between the studied locations, which shows the highest thickness of this formation in the Arjan plain section and the lowest thickness is in Saadi Mountain. The facies changes of sedimentary rocks of the Miocene period seem to be due to the operation and activity of bedrock faults such as Kare Bes, Sabzpushan, Sarvestan and Kazeron faults in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Scientometrics is used to identify existing study gaps, discover the future research directions, investigate fundamental trends and implement the necessary policies in a specific field of knowledge. Considering the key role of environmental factors in the health trends and the varyingburden of diseases in the country, this study was conducted with the aim of performing scientometric analysis of the role of environmental health in the prevention and control of diseases related to environmental factors in Iran. Materials and Methods: Bibliographic information related to scientific documents indexed in the Web of Science database until September 12, 2022, was analyzed and visualized using Citespace and Biblioshiny software. Results: A total of 1,212 documents were retrieved. These documents were published in 629 sources with the participation of 8,461 authors. The average publication year of the documents was 2010. The top three ranks of organizational affiliations were as follows: Tehran University of Medical Sciences (747 documents), Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (436 documents), and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (393 documents). Iran's cooperation network with other countries indicates substantial joint researchbetween Iran and the main countries in this network. Over time, the co-occurrence network of keywords has evolved from outcomes (such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, etc.) to environmental exposure factors, especially air pollutants, heavy metals, and foodborne pathogens factors. Risk assessment has also been a category of interest in recent years. Conclusion: Scientometric analysis showed that environmental health studies in prevention and control of diseases related to environmental factors in Iran are young and still progressing. In the early years, studies were mainly focused on diseases as an outcome, while in recent years, they have focused more on exposure factors or environmental pathogens. It is suggested that the future studies based on the retrieved keywords should be more mission-oriented and the priority of solving the problems of environmental pollutants affecting people's health in the country based on the extent and scope of the problems of each province should be considered by policy makers and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study is to analyze Websites content quality in Iranian universities of technology. The method of this study is content analysis; one of the webometrics methods. Applied reaserch and content analysis method with analytical approach have been used in this paper. The research population is top ten Iranian technology universities selected according to their ISC latest version of university ranking. The required data for this paper was gathered based on keyword density and prominence, Meta tags, keyword & traffic organic, Text/HTML ratio, Unicode and duplicate content. All of these are indicators in content quality and used in this research for data extracting. Information of each website is extracted & analyzed on February 2018 by Webometrics tools and Excel software. The results showed that the content quality of Amir Kabir, Isfahan, Sharif University of Technology and University of Science and Technology are better than the other universities. Also, Malek Ashtar University of Technology and Kerman Graduate University of Advanced Technology have poor website content quality. The admins of Iranian university websites can use the results of this study for improving their websites’content quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and statement of the problem: Zare Kohan (4102) defines media literacy as the practices that allow people to access, understand, and critically evaluate media content. If appropriately implemented, media literacy can protect audiences from misinformation and deceiving content. While the influences of media spread to our daily life, vulnerability to the threats which are widespread in both online and mainstream media are also increasing (Moghaddaszadeh & Safahieh, 4102). This vulnerability is not limited to a specific age group, but children, as well as teenagers, are more vulnerable compared to middle-aged and older adults. As children and teenagers spend most of their time at school and particularly with their family members, the role of the family has a profound effect on children's ability on how to deal with media content (Livingstone, 4102). The family role in overseeing children's activities becomes more critical than when the number of three to four years old children using smartphones and tablets is increasing (Ofcom, 4102). This paper offers a systematic review of such a role, and it aims at examining the family status in media literacy research in Iran and seeks to answer the following questions. 0) to what extent, media literacy studies in Iran have focused on the family? b) what are the approaches taken from the methodological point of view? 3) what are the main practical and theoretical findings of conducted studies? 2) what are the main existing research gap/s for further study in future studies? Methodology: Here we offer a systematic review of studies on media literacy that focussed on the Iranian family's role. In order to find published articles and works related to media literacy, we the following five keywords: "media literacy," "information literacy," "family," "parents," and "Iran." The search took place in six databases, including "CIVILICA," "ENSANI", "NOORMAGS," "MAGIRAN," "IRANDOC," and "Scientific Information Database (SID)" were searched. In addition to the online databases, we also searched through the "Google Scholar" for additional and relevant studies on media literacy. The databases were selected based on all library subscriptions of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences (IHCSs). To determine the relevancy of the studies for inclusion, we did the search based on the title, keywords, and abstracts. The first count of the obtained studies on media literacy led us to 011 publications. After reviewing all obtained studies, despite the presence of searched terms, 28 studies were excluded because they lacked relevant objectives of the study, or they did not present sufficient discussion on the subject matter. Further inspection of the documents resulted in identifying 01 articles in which some nine papers had the characteristics that we were looking for and used them for the final analysis. To ensure adherence to the admission requirements, two researchers reviewed and approved the included documents independently. Findings and discussion: This study aimed at investigating the family situation in media literacy research in Iran. The search yielded nine relevant studies in which the oldest and latest were published in 4112 and 4102, respectively. The search procedure was carried out in the summer of 4102, and the procedure was not limited to any specific time. From a methodological point of view, three out of nine studies applied documentary methods. This method, also known as library study, involves identifying and locating relevant information, analyzing what was found, and then developing discussion and conclusion. Three out of nine studies used quantitative survey methods, two out of nine applied focus groups, and semi-structured in-depth interviews, and one study used a SWOT analysis. The findings show that most of the studies have been used by documentary and survey methods to meet their goals. The main objectives of the studies were to determine whether a relationship existed between the level of education and the economic conditions of families that had media literacy. In terms of the field of researchers who carried out these studies, eight out of nine studies came from the communication filed. This indicates the family's substantial role in media literacy is well-understood among communication scholars. According to the findings of the present research, a small number of research on media literacy paid attention to the importance of the family's role. Nowadays, when new and mainstream media are penetrated in all aspects of our life, and some cases, they can be dangerous, especially for children and teenagers who do not know how to use and deal with potential threats. Given this central role, the primary responsibility to educate children and teenagers is on the family's shoulders. As the reviewed studies showed, the relationship between limited variables such as socio-economic conditions and family's income with media literacy were investigated in previous research (e.g., Ashrafirizi, Ramezani, Aghajani, & Kazempour, 4103; Shojaee & Amirpour, 4104). Hence, the challenge for further research is to learn more about how the family may educate media literacy to children. Conclusion: Based on the objective of the current study to investigate family status in media literacy research in Iran, published literature on the subject seems very limited. This indicates that the family's role has not received enough attention from researchers whose media literacy is among their interest areas. It is also worth mentioning that perhaps there could be other relevant unpublished studies that are not either open to the public or are in press. However, referring to all included papers, it shows that minimal studies focused on the family's role in media literacy research. It should also be mentioned that almost all of these minimal studies done by communication scholars. Prominent Results: Despite the prominent role of families to educate children on how to use media, it has not received enough attention on how moms and dads may play their crucial way. As the findings indicate, moms play a more significant role in teaching children how to use media; therefore, educating and increasing media awareness among moms is fundamental. Furthers studies need to focus on how ' media literacy among parents influences children's media behavior. However, this could be very useful if future studies integrate communicative and cultural factors in investigating family status in media literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaria is a dangerous disease that was considered one of the leading causes of mortality in Iran up to Pahlavi II period. The small and weak population of Iran could not enjoy favorable economic conditions because of the disease. Therefore, overcoming this social and economic weakness became a strong motivation for combatting malaria. These efforts became more concentrated by founding Planning Organization in 1948. The Organization for Combatting Malaria (the main executor of the plan) managed to achieve impressive results up to the end of the third construction project in 1967. They curbed malaria in some parts of the country and continued efforts despite the enormous obstacles in the path. Keeping malaria in check made improvement in public health to some extent and raised people’s hope that other health problems might be resolved. Mortality rate dropped and work force achieved recovery. This paper investigated combatting malaria from 1948 to 1967 and addressed its obstacles, approaches and achievements. Accordingly, research questions were answered through content analysis and deductive reasoning. The major sources used were reports released by the state, particularly the reports of Planning Organization and Ministry of Health, as well as old magazines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing tourists' photos' visual content proves to be an effective method for understanding their behaviors and preferences in tourism destinations. This approach can serve as a valuable tool for precision marketing of tourism destinations, including tourist villages. The present study employed a novel methodology by conducting visual analysis of data. The analysis considered the characteristics of the photos, describing the observable appearance of themes and specific features within the collection. Subsequently, the most significant items, their frequency, simultaneity, and categories were identified and the relevant items were coded. For this study, a sample of 548 uploaded photos of Iranian villages on Flickr was selected and analyzed. Through the photo analysis, 21 dominant scenes in villages were identified and further classified into 5 attractions and 9 types of tourism. ArcGIS was employed for spatial analysis to examine differences in tourists' perceptions and behaviors. The study findings revealed that attractions, such as landscapes, infrastructure, and scenes of rural houses had captured the interest of tourists visiting Iranian rural destinations. These attractions were perceived more frequently compared to others. Additionally, among the various types of tourism, rural tourism emerged as the predominant perception among tourists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, dust storms in the west of Iran have been investigated, which include days when the dust suspension brings the horizontal visibility to less than or equal to one kilometer in at least three meteorological stations. In order to extract synoptic patterns, the data were obtained on sea level pressure, geopotential height, temperature, zonal (u) and meridional (v) components of wind at different levels of the atmosphere related to ERA-Interim. Using the visual analysis of the maps, the maps were categorized based on the similarity between the pressure patterns. The analysis of synoptic patterns showed that the dynamic and thermal cyclone patterns are the most important patterns of the dust cycle in Iran. In the storms caused by a dynamic cyclone, according to the location of the cyclone in the region, the most dust rise was found to be from the western and southwestern cyclone in Iraq, so about 40% of these storms came from the central lakes and especially from Lake Tharthar. The storms caused by thermal cyclones in the region have lower intensity than those caused by dynamic cyclones. The sources located in the southern half of Iraq, northern Arabia, Kuwait and southwestern Iran have been more effective in the occurrence of dust than the other parts in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the governors of Baghdad is one of the important issues in the relations between Iran and the Ottoman Empire during the Qajar period. The administration of Iraq was difficult due to the distance from the center, the presence of different ethnic groups and Shiite pilgrimage sites, and the proximity to Iran, and the appointed governors tried to strengthen their political and financial power by fueling the differences between Iran and the Ottoman Empire. From the middle of the 19th century and the reforms carried out in the Ottoman territory, an attempt was made to coordinate their administration with Istanbul by appointing governors such as Najib Pasha. However, Pasha's contractionary policy in Baghdad caused a political crisis. Against this backdrop, the research question of the present study concerns the policy adopted by Najib Pasha during the governorship of Baghdad to divide Iran and the Ottoman Empire. Based on the descriptive-analytical approach and the view of centralism, the governors of Baghdad and consequently Najib Pasha saw the security threat from Iran and the Iranians living in Iraq very forceful for their position. Therefore, in their political orientation, they tried to use this intellectual atmosphere of the Istanbul court in line with their interests. Also, relying on the idea of centralism and the unbreakable link of the empire and removing its destructive elements, they tried to consider the suppression and massacre of the people of Karbala as legitimate and necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Domestic violence against women is one of the most serious social issues. This study aimed to identify predictors of help-seeking behavior among women exposed to spousal violence. Materials & Methods: The present study was a descriptive-analytical study conducted in 2022 among women attending comprehensive health service centers in Lorestan Province, Iran. A total of 525 participants were recruited using multi-stage sampling methods, including stratified, cluster, and simple random sampling. Data were collected through questionnaires on spousal violence and help-seeking behavior. Data analysis was performed using independent t-tests, ANOVA, and Stata 14 software. Results: The highest prevalence of physical and psychological violence dimensions were related to slapping (69.9%) and belittling (84.38%), respectively. In terms of sexual violence, non-consensual sexual intercourse (24.76%) was the most prevalent. The most common sources for seeking help were individual's family (70.48%), healthcare providers (56%), and spouse's family (53.90%). Help-seeking behavior for physical (p=0.02) and psychological violence (p=0.007) was higher in higher-income groups. Women whose spouses had university education exhibited higher help-seeking behavior for physical (p=0.015) and psychological violence (p=0.011) compared to others. Help-seeking behavior regarding physical violence (p<0.001) and sexual violence (p=0.004) was more frequent among individuals residing in Borujerd and Khorramabad cities compared to other cities in the province. Conclusion: Multiple factors associated with help-seeking behavior were identified, including spouse's education level, women experiencing physical violence, place of residence, and household wealth status. Policies and interventions should be developed to address these factors and improve women's health outcomes and prevent intimate partner violence (IPV). Considering the limited formal help-seeking behavior in Iran, governmental policies should focus on preventing IPV through various means, such as increasing demand for women's access to formal services (healthcare, legal, and social services) when experiencing IPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Celiac National Institute has recently devised a diagnostic algorithm for celiac, which has been adopted from the most recent guidelines and articles worldwide. All Iranian provinces are requested to set all diagnoses based on the newest national protocol devised by the National Institute of Celiac Disease; however, some incompatibilities are observed. Therefore, this study was conducted to demonstrate these incompatibilities. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, we enrolled 250 cases of celiac disease referred to the province registry system and revised the diagnosis based on the national protocol for celiac disease diagnosis. All data were analyzed using SPSS software version 26. Results: Among the 250 patients diagnosed with celiac disease, 88 (35.2%) had incompatibility. The mean age of the patients was 37.19 years. 28 people (31.8 %) were men. Results indicated that in 40.9% of incompatibility cases, only pathology tests were performed, and in 52.3% of incompatibility cases, only serological tests were performed. In 6.8% of cases, both tests were performed, but the diagnosis was indefinite. Pathological results indicated that 0.5% of patients were in Marsh 1, 19% in Marsh 2, 35.7% in 3a, 23.8% in 3b, and 19% in Marsh 3c phases. Conclusion: There are cases of diagnostic incompatibilities between the most recent national protocol for celiac disease and physicians' practice. Therefore, it is vital that practitioners are trained with the national protocol for celiac disease diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this descriptive research was to identify hot and emerging topics in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Iran and to map the intellectual structure of this field in a ten-year period. The intellectual structure of the field of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Iran was studied by analyzing co-occurrences of keywords and cited references. The research population of this study was all research and review papers of Iranian researchers published in journals indexed by the Web of Science database from 2008 to 2017. The collected data from Web of Science were analyzed by the Cite Space Software in order to map the intellectual structure of this field. The results showed that the keywords such as gene expression, protein, in vitro, oxidative stress, binding, apoptosis and cell were among the hot research topics in Iran and terms such as chitosan, nanocomposite, antibacterial activity, dynamics molecules, stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells and immobilization have been indicative of the emerging topics in Iranian research in the studied time period. Increasing publications in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology in Iran at the international level and its inclusion in the country’s research priorities led us to conduct a scientometric study of this research area. Therefore, due to the hot and emerging topics identified in this research, such studies can be used as a road map for the country’s large-scale scientific planning and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational inequality is one of the most pressing issues of our time, leading to differences in opportunities, resources, and outcomes for certain groups of students compared to others. The main question of the current research is that what policies have been developed in Iran during the six development programs after the revolution to develop equal educational opportunities and reduce educational inequality? By using the systematic review method, educational policies were examined from the perspective of 6 principles related to the legislative framework (prioritization, strategy selection, implementation solutions, specific implementation, having indicators and evaluation capability, appropriate implementation guarantee) and the results showed that in developing development plans The legislator paid limited attention to the priorities and despite the fact that in most of the articles and notes there is an approach to achieve the set goals, but the solutions are very general or no solutions are provided, the main executor of the government's decrees and the executive organizations had a lesser role, also in none of the programs. A specific executive guarantee for accountability was not specified from the point of view of the law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indians and Iranians, as the oldest Aryan groups, had a special worldview about the forces of good and evil and a special attitude toward the forces that surrounded man and influenced people's lives. Examining the religious attitude of these civilizations toward the power and ability of demons/asuras and their assistants and the influence of demons on human life is one of the important issues that we will address in this research. The main question of this research is: What different or similar attitudes did the ancient Iranians and Indians have toward the ability and performance of evil forces (whether it is possible to give importance and credit to human existence as a competitor or helper against harmful and evil beings)? The results of the present descriptive-analytical research, by analyzing important Indian and Iranian sources, showed that considering the different attitudes of Indians and Iranians toward the origin of demonic forces, there are differences in the belief in the power and ability of evil forces. In the meantime, because the Indians considered the Asuras and daevasto be of the same origin, the influence of the Indian Asuras and their control over humans was more legal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The budget deficit crisis is among the most significant economic issues in Post-Islamic Revolution of Iran and has been the cause of many other crises like the two-digit inflation rate and destructive governmental interference in the market. Keeping the government's budget deficit under control is a critical factor in economic stability and a prerequisite to achieving high and sustainable economic growth. The main question of the present study was what are the roots of the constant economic policy that resulted in the government budget deficit in Post-Islamic Revolution of Iran. The hypothesis of the study, based on the historical institutionalism approach, Is that the constant economic policy leading to budget deficit was rooted in the monticore model of state-society relationships - i.e., a combination of ideological and election relations, leads to a continuous increase in government expenses. Therefore, in order to overcome this situation, there needs to be a change in the nature of the state and its unique pattern of relations with society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Problem of Study: The objective of the present paper is to offer an analysis of the persuasion techniques used in the Iranian government’s media campaign on “Opt-out from Subsidy Plan.” The event took place in the first month of 9313SH (Iranian Calendar). The “Opt-out from Subsidy Plan” turned out to be one of the main government’s media campaigns. The government introduced and launched it to motivate and encourage Iranian to withdraw their name from the list of beneficiaries, i.e., those who were receiving a monthly subsidy from the government. The campaign implemented in almost half month (91th to 39st) in early of year 9313SH and based on the statistic given by officials, only 33 of the people welcome the campaign and register their names to withdraw from the list of those who are receiving the monthly subsidy. The organizers of such campaign tried to encourage and motivate people to participate in the campaign. The role of media and the contents, however, was one of the main reasons to contribute to its failure as there was evidence that shows neither media fully supported and participated in the campaign, nor the organizer used and implemented as much effective media and persuasion techniques on the content as expected. Had it been provided to attract people to follow the campaign objectives, the results may have been different. As such, the main question of this study was to address the role of media (in terms of direction) in the “Opt-out from subsidy plan” campaign and also to offer an analysis of the most persuasion techniques used by the organizer (government) so to attract as many people to participate in this campaign as possible. The results of this study will help the organizer, i.e., the Iranian government, to do a better job in designing and creating campaign messages, that is using more persuasive techniques as well as assigning more efficient communicator in its future campaigns. Theoretical Review Here, we used persuasion theory and persuasion techniques as the principal and conceptual framework. Persuasion Theory is a theory that deals with the elements of communication and their role in shaping and re-shaping the attitudes and behaviors of receivers. In this perspective, persuasive messages are thus able to activate an attitude change that can modify behaviors of the public in general. In communication discipline and to justify the persuasion elements, there are communication models which deal and elaborating the meaning, concept, and function of each element and the way they interact in each situation9. To be more specific, all the elements of the communication process including Source, Communicator, Context, Message, Medium, Noise, and feedback are involved and playing a role in shaping and re-shaping public attitude. Each of these elements along with persuasive techniques can increase or decrease the efficiency of the media content. Also worthy of highlighting that, techniques like “fear,” “Authority,” “Pinpointing the enemy,” “Name calling,” “Glittering generalities,” “commitment and consistency,” “Social proof” etc. are among the most persuasive techniques used in almost all types of campaign. Research Method: The method of study was qualitative (Them analysis) and quantitative content analysis. Quantitative content analysis is a popular method among communication researchers who are investigating media contents. Krippendorff (9191) defined content analysis as a research technique for making replicable and valid inferences from data to their context . In this study, the researcher also approached the qualitative content analysis named “theme analysis.” Theme analyzing as a qualitative technique is defined as a method for the subjective interpretation of the content of text data through the systematic classification process of coding and identifying themes or patterns3. Altogether, we chose some 29 programs/news from one TV channels (TV9) and three mainstream dailies named “Kaihan,” “Iran” and “Etemad” to constitute the unit of analysis of the study. We selected some 911 programs/news randomly as samples on which we performed data collection and data analysis. Based on the objectives of the study, the research instrument (Coding protocol) was developed by the researcher. The research instrument was tested - retested for reliability using Scott's pi (range between 1 - 9). All cases and after a few amendments, the result of Scott’s pi was 17.0 and above. For the validity of the research instrument, the researcher follows the content validity where more than five experts in the area of media and communication approved the codes and structure of the research protocol to achieved the research objectives and measuring the research questions. Findings and Discussion: The result of the study shows that there was no consistency among media content toward this campaign overall. While 91793 of the content in TV9 and .0703 of the content of “Iran” newspaper was positive toward the campaign, 02703 of the content in “Keihan” was negative, and also 01.3% of the content in “Etemad” newspaper was neutral. The result of the Chi-Square test (X = 911.1, P= 1710) shows that there is a significant difference between the media and their direction toward this campaign. In terms of the direction toward organizer of the campaign (Communicator), also media appear to be more neutral rather than be supportive. In overall, 12733 of the content toward the government was neutral, 92733 were negative, and only 9723 were positive. Also, the statistic test was conducted, and the results show there were significant differences between media and their direction toward the organizer of the campaign (X = . 7., P= 1719). Also from the qualitative content analysis, some major negative “themes” were identified which could justify the failure of the whole Campaign. For Example, “Kaihan” and “Etemad” have had some negative publicity regarding the “Organizer” which at the end resulted in disrespectful between the people and organizer. While it was expected most persuasion techniques such as “Commitment and consistency,” “Social proof,” “Scarcity” and “Authority” appeared in the media content, the “fear” technique appeared to be mainly used especially at the early stages of the campaign. The most frequent used message carrying the element of “Fear” was “the possibility of a penalty for those who are not eligible to receive the monthly subsidy from the Government.” Even though from the middle of the campaign the organizer’s language has changed, and they tried to use more soft messages such as “denying the possibility of a penalty for recipients of the monthly subsidy” in approaching the people. Still, there was no confident “position” on what the government is going to do. In terms of using persuasive techniques, the result of the study shows that the capacity of these techniques has not been properly used. In addition to using inappropriate persuasive techniques, some messages have been produced and published against the principals of persuasion theories. The techniques like “Scarcity” or "Social proof” were used inappropriately where could not lead the organizer to the target objectives. Also, there was no certain standards or benchmark from the government on whom should register their name to be removed from the list of “subsidy list” and whom should remain on the list. On this basis, it can be highlighted that public perception of the whole plan was floating between force and persuasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the scholars who studied Safavid pathology during the Safavid dynasty, while holding the highest religious position in the government, is Mullah Mohammad Baqir Sabzevari, well-known as Mohaqeq Sabzevari. In his book Rozatol-Alnwar Al-abbasi, written at the request of Shah Abbas II, in addition to providing guidelines for ruling the government and principles for statecraft, he tried to describe the harms that the Safavids suffered. This study seeks to answer this question: from the perspective of Sabzevari in the book Rozatol-Alnwar Al-abbasi, what social harms did Safavid suffer from? Therefore, using a descriptive-analytical method and collecting datasets by library searching, the following findings have been reached: Sabzevari's religious pathology of Safaviya, according to the type of damage mentioned by him, is classified in five fields: pathology of religion, religious knowledge, religious society, religiosity and religious institutions. Sabzevari has been working as a social reformer to improve the livelihood and resurrection of the people, the reformist idea in Rozatol-Alnwar Al-abbasi is based on the practical wisdom of Islam and It shows a justice-oriented and compassionate approach to the general public. Rozatol-Alnwar Al-abbasi should also be mentioned as a text in order to formulate and realize the model of faithful politics, which, based on Islamic beliefs, judgments and ethics, offers a method of ordering good and forbiding bad, at a time when social reform is possible only through accompanying kings. In this book, he has stated his meaning in many cases with ironic expression, and in some cases, he has directly described the harms Sabzevari considers three factors to be involved in order to fix the mentioned damages and preserve and survive the government, which arise from the specific foundations of his political thought: 1-Inner factor: improving the ruler's inner (spiritual) relationship with God 2- External factor: improving the relationship of the ruler with the people and Statesmen in observing the principles of statecraft 3- External and internal factors: justice and peace with the people and fight against oppression and oppressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The set of studies about Iran, especially historical, literary, cultural, geographical, and linguistic studies, is called Iranology. A science that is four centuries old and was created by westerners. Iranology from the establishment of the first language schools to the establishment of Iranology in the world's major universities has passed great changes in these four centuries. In the twentieth century, some Iranians also entered the field of Iranology due to traveling to Europe and observing the work of orientalists and Iranologists, breaking the monopoly of Iranology of the west. The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of western Iranology and how "National Iranology" was formed by using descriptive-analytical method. The achievements of this research show that on the one hand insufficient literacy of western Iranologists, Iranology influence project and biased expression of research results by Orientalists and Iranologists and on the other hand scientific presentation away from prejudice and bias by Iranian researchers, self-knowledge versus otherness, recognizing the cultural and historical capacities of Iran to the whole world, researchers' interest in research on Iran, and government support for Iranian studies has led to the formation of "National Iranology" in the contemporary century. Researchers such as Allameh Qazvini and Pourdavod, as the first National Iranologists, took very important steps in promoting the science of Iranology and others like Abbas Iqbal, Mojtaba Minavi, Iraj Afshar, etc. continued their path. The establishment of the Pahlavi Library in the 1340s is a turning point in Iranology. communication and cooperation with Iranology and Oriental Studies Centers, collaboration with Iranologists around the world, creating a special archive and library for Iranology, organizing World Congresses of Iranology, follow up on information and publications of world centers related to Iranian culture and provide services about Iranian culture and civilization such as: the establishment of new centers of Iranology, teaching Persian language in universities around the world and publishing journals of Iranology were among the most important tasks of Iranology in this library. Library officials sought to determine the general Iranian studies policies of all countries from Tehran. The next stage in the development of Iranology occurred in the 1380s. The establishment of the Iranology Foundation and the entry of Iranology into universities led to the further development and expansion of National Iranology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying homogeneous climatic zones plays an important role in the success of regional development programs. The climate system is composed of various elements, factors, and variables that together form the climatic components of a region. Multi-characteristic and multivariate methods can combine and overlap the types of elements and variables effective in constructing the climate with appropriate weights in the climatic zoning area. In the present study, climatic zoning of the Caspian region was performed using factor analysis and cluster analysis. For this purpose, a 30*30 matrix consisting of 30 meteorological stations and 30 climatic and environmental variables was formed. The results of factor analysis showed that the climate of the region is affected by 5 factors including precipitation-humidity, temperature, wind, sunlight, and environmental factors. These factors explained a total of 92.5% of the variance of the data. Then, cluster analysis was performed by the hierarchical integration method of Ward on the five mentioned factors. The results showed four climatic zones including humid, semi-humid, semi-arid, and arid in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The hospital autonomy plan, the biggest decentralization plan to reform the administration structure of public hospitals, has been implemented for about three decades in Iran. In this study, we aimed to examine the effects of the plan on the financial indicators of autonomous public hospitals. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study used revenue and cost data associated with all public hospitals affiliated to Bushehr University of Medical Sciences in 2021. The relevant data was extracted from two big databases including health information system (HIS) and accounting system, and after the data quality control, specific financial self-sufficiency balance (the ratio of specific income to the specific cost of the same hospital) and total financial balance (the ratio of specific income to the total cost of the same hospital) were calculated using Excel software. Results: Results demonstrated that the specific financial self-sufficiency balance and the total financial balance were 61% and 27%, respectively. The highest and the lowest values of the specific financial selfsufficiency index pertained to the Heart Hospital (the only single specialty heart hospital in the province) and Imam Hossein Hospital (a hospital with 29 active beds in Tangestan county with a population of 82502) as 74% and 45%, respectively. The gap index between the specific cost and revenue of each active bed showed that on average, the cost of each bed was nearly 215 million Tomans higher than its own income in 2021. Conclusion: The hospital autonomy plan had different effects on the financial indices of public hospitals studied in this research, denoting it is not possible to cover all hospital-specific expenses through its own earned revenues. Accordingly, government subsidies to autonomous hospitals are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The hospital autonomy plan, the biggest decentralization plan to reform the administration structure of public hospitals, has been implemented for about three decades in Iran. In this study, we aimed to examine the effects of the plan on the financial indicators of autonomous public hospitals. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study used revenue and cost data associated with all public hospitals affiliated to Bushehr University of Medical Sciences in 2021. The relevant data was extracted from two big databases including health information system (HIS) and accounting system, and after the data quality control, specific financial self-sufficiency balance (the ratio of specific income to the specific cost of the same hospital) and total financial balance (the ratio of specific income to the total cost of the same hospital) were calculated using Excel software. Results: Results demonstrated that the specific financial self-sufficiency balance and the total financial balance were 61% and 27%, respectively. The highest and the lowest values of the specific financial self-sufficiency index pertained to the Heart Hospital (the only single specialty heart hospital in the province) and Imam Hossein Hospital (a hospital with 29 active beds in Tangestan county with a population of 82502) as 74% and 45%, respectively. The gap index between the specific cost and revenue of each active bed showed that on average, the cost of each bed was nearly 215 million Tomans higher than its own income in 2021. Conclusion: The hospital autonomy plan had different effects on the financial indices of public hospitals studied in this research, denoting it is not possible to cover all hospital-specific expenses through its own earned revenues. Accordingly, government subsidies to autonomous hospitals are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Object: Healthy children achieve better educational outcomes, which in turn is associated with improved health later in life. Health promotion schools The World Health Organization is a comprehensive research to promote health and academic achievement in schools. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of education provided in health promotion schools on various aspects of students› health. Materials and Methods: The present study was a systematic review. Four international databases, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and domestic Magi ran and SID databases, as well as the Google Scholar search engine, were searched using various keywords related to health-promoting schools. The risk of bias was reduced with the participation of two authors who assessed the quality of the study and the eligibility of the articles included. Results: After searching the databases, a total of 1213 articles were found. The age of the students ranged from 5 to 18 years, all studies reported the age and sex of the participants. No studies had long-term follow-up (more than 24 months). Among the studies, 6 studies received positive and significant results from the educational interventions provided in health promotion schools, and 2 studies from the educational intervention did not receive their expected results. Conclusion: According to the results of this systematic review, studies in the field of health promotion schools do not have the necessary quantity and quality. Considering the importance of health promotion schools, it is necessary to conduct more quality studies and support measures from related organizations in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Muckbang discourse, as digital commensality, depicts the preparation of food (Cookbang) or eating food (Muckbang) by an influencer in the presence of other users. This trend is considered as a tool for spreading Korean food tradition as an essential part of the Hallyu or "Korean wave." Through indirect means as well as the interaction of influencers with social network users, the Korean wave of Hallyu has been recontextualized in Iran in its own particular way. In this connection, as it concerns Iranian brand values, discovering the implicit levels of meaningmaking in Muckbang or the Korean wave of Hallyu in Iran requires adopting and applying an interpretive multidisciplinary approach. The research corpus consists of all Muckbang-cookbangs that were purposefully selected by considering the meaning-making mechanisms of food culture system. Employing an integrated model for data analyses, the results indicated that the cultural codes of food in Iranian Muckbang-cookbang discourse represents the value of food brands through and in terms of the type of food, the style of eating and preparing. The results suggest that concerning food type, the Muckbang discourse of native Iranians particularly includes the consumption of unpleasant food, flavor-enhanced food, and crunchy and fresh food. Besides, Iranian Muckbang discourse also includes the consumption of some non-native foods such as squid, crabs, and calamari. The examination of written interactions revealed that some users and followers encouraged other users to accept the Hallyu wave by weakening the local cultural structures and enriching the elements of the global Hallyu wave. This is while another group of users avoided accepting this trend by maintaining and preserving the local traditional elements. In Muckbang discourse, the eating style often stimulates the senses of users with amplified sounds, challenging them to overeat, binging, and eating alone or in pairs. Depending on the type of eating, Iranian Muckbangs include eating with amplified sound, overeating, and fast eating challenges, often performed in person or in pairs. Finally, Cookbang discourse in Iran includes selecting and preparing food from foreign countries, especially East Asia, depending on their origins, communicating current and modern fast food in line with McDonald's global trends, and finally recontextualizing the recipes of traditional Iranian foods based on historical narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: After the disintegration of the USSR, Central Asia as an important part of this political system was exposed to serious changes and developments. Bankrupt economies, the persistence of outdated patterns and traditions of political action, and fragmented identity foundations plagued the Central Asian republics in the early 1990s. Regarding the issue of identity, during the Soviet era, Moscow worked to suppress the emergence of any ethnic (Turkish, Persian) or religious (Islamic) identities that would pose a threat to the ideology of Communism. But with the collapse of this union, the Central Asian republics were in a position in which Iran and Turkey were trying to use identity-based foreign policies to invest in new geographies. In the meantime, the political elites of the Central Asian countries decided to accept the models presented by the international actors to get out of this impasse. The Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey were two neighbors that were mentioned more than others in the minds of the leaders of these republics. Considering some common cultural-identity heritages of these two countries with these republics, both of these powers tried to penetrate this region by using cultural elements. But the cultural policies of Tehran and Ankara gradually faced serious obstacles. Research Question: What is the main challenge facing the cultural diplomacy of Iran and Turkey in Central Asia? Research Hypothesis: For Iran, the securitization of its cultural agendas and for Turkey, the whisper of Ottomanism and fear of Turkey's regional dominance is the main challenge for their cultural diplomacy toward Central Asia. Methodology (and theoretical framework if there are): This research is applied based on purpose and descriptive based on data collection. Also, this research was done after the event. This means that the researcher studies the possible cause of the dependent variable and the independent and dependent variables that occurred in the past. In this article, Public and cultural diplomacy have been selected as the theoretical framework and will be explained subsequently. Results and Discussion: With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Central Asian republics underwent serious changes. The fundamental question is "Who am I?" Or, to be more precise, the identity crisis has been raised as an important challenge for these republics. Moscow could not give them a new identity, and therefore the identity crisis was formed in parallel with the political, economic, and security crises in the new republics. In this situation, these countries sought to create an identity from the very beginning of their independence, so that it would be a solid foundation for them to form a nation-state. The near horizon of these republics was Iran and Turkey, with whom they had identity and cultural affinity more than others. With the knowledge of the elites of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Turkey about this loss, the revival and consolidation of cultural relations along with political, economic and security relations were put on the agenda of Tehran and Ankara. Iran entered into cultural relations with these republics based on categories such as cultural, linguistic (in a more limited dimension), religious and historical commonalities. But the main issue for Iran was the security perspective. Turkey defined Central Asia as a land for its cultural influence due to some important factors such as extensive linguistic and religious commonalities and pursued diplomacy and cultural efforts towards this region in the 1990s. Turkey also faced challenges in the way of advancing its cultural policies. Turkish imperialism and the arrogance of Central Asian Turks is the key to understanding Turkey's cultural challenges in this region. Iran's cultural foreign policy officials should be aware of the sensitivities and security concerns of Central Asian leaders and remove the perception of "other" from Iran in all their cultural activities in these republics. To improve the status of Iran's cultural diplomacy in Central Asia, this article suggests that Iran should follow strategies at three national, regional, and global levels. Conclusion: With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the countries of Central Asia faced deep identity crises and were unable to establish their nation-states. Also the Central Asian republics were exposed to serious changes and developments. The basic question "Who am I?" Or to put it more precisely, the identity crisis has emerged as an important challenge for these republics. With these developments, the arena was available for actors like Iran and Turkey more than others. Because both Iran and Turkey had characteristics that made it possible for them to be active in Central Asia. However, due to the lack of proper understanding of the Central Asian environment, Iran and Turkey made some strategic mistakes. Ultimately, they failed to capitalize on the Central Asian identity crisis. However, Turkey was a little more successful compared to Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The tension and conflict between Baku and Yerevan in the last three decades has affected Iran's bilateral relations with both of these two countries. On the other hand, the Economic influence of rival powers in the region, has doubled Tehran's regional concerns. Therefore, preventing the threats and taking advantage of existing opportunities have become a significant necessity for Iran. According to mentioned conditions, in the period of 2013-2021, Tehran tried to use economic opportunities created by its new approach in foreign policy in light of the JCPOA. Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan are considered as Iran's getaway to reach Russia and Europe. We will use Geopolynomics topic as a conceptual framework in evaluating Iran's bilateral relations with Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, emphasizing the approach of Rouhani's government in the field of foreign policy between 2013 and 2021. This article uses the phenomenological method to analyze the collected data. Research Question: This article intends to address the following question to some extent. What was Rouhani's government's approach to bilateral relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia? Research Hypothesis: Tehran has prioritized economic issues in its foreign policy in the post-JCPOA period. Tehran's geo-economic attitude towards the expansion of relations with the Republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia shows a significant example of a new approach. In the past decades, the relations between Iran and Armenia have continued according to the existing capacities but bilateral relations between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan have experienced a more cooperative approach compared to the last decade. The outstanding geo-economic position of the Republic of Azerbaijan improved the status of this country in Iran's foreign policy and as a result, strengthened Tehran-Baku relations (between 20132021) compared to Tehran-Yerevan relations. Methodology (and theoretical framework if there are): Geopolynomics is an analytical tool to explain the policy issues facing the post-Cold War world and the 21st century. It could be said that Geopolynomics is an informal intergovernmental regime. In fact, this term serves as informal rules between governments for economic cooperation and regional integration by taking into account the security concerns of the other side. In other words, Geopolynomics is created from the combination of Geopolitics and Geo-economics. Therefore, it can provide a useful conceptual framework for analyzing a wide range of issues such as transit corridors, transportation, energy and trade exchanges by considering security issues. Results and Discussion: After the first Karabakh war Armenia faced with many geopolitical obstacles and economic challenges imposed by the Republic of Azerbaijan and Turkey. Therefore, cooperation with Iran is very attractive for Armenia to circumvent the imposed restrictions. Tehran-Baku relations are affected by geopolitical problems (Karabakh conflict), ethnic issues, religious ideology, the presence of extra-regional powers (arms cooperation with Israel) the legal regime of the Caspian Sea and its common resources most of which have had a negative impact on Tehran-Baku relations. Based on the main foreign policy discourse during president Rouhani's administrations (2013-2021), the importance of Geo-economics has become more prominent. It seems that geo-economic elements have had a greater impact on the development of bilateral relations between Tehran and Baku than Yerevan. It is also noteworthy that geopolitical concerns remain active despite Geo-economic cooperation. This issue can be examined in the following three aspects: 1) The meeting of high-ranking officials, 2) Important agreements reached between the two sides regarding construction of transit corridors, 3) Trade volumes. n the period mentioned in this article (August 2013 to August 2021), 47 high-level meetings were held between Tehran and Baku officials. Also, more than 130 meetings were held between the ministers, deputies and senior managers of the two countries. In comparison with the Republic of Azerbaijan, only 23 high level official meetings occurred between Iranian and Armenian officials and less than 40 meetings were held among low-level government officials. The abundance of meetings can indicate the political will to cooperate. In the discussion of South Caucasus, transportation and energy exchange is the most important measure of cooperation. In this regard, the Rouhani administration has signed several agreements with Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. It is important to point out that these republics are parts of International North-South Corridor. This multipurpose corridor connects Iran's southern coasts in the Persian Gulf with Russia and Europe. There is no independent railway between Iran and Armenia. The contract for the construction of this railway line was approved by the governments of Armenia and Iran in 2009. By the end of 2013, the cost of this route was estimated at 3.5 billion dollars. This project was never implemented due to its high cost. On the other hand, Iran- the Republic of Azerbaijan railway is under construction. In addition, Iran is eager to export gas to Europe through south Caucasus region. While the transportation pipeline in Armenia is not developed, the Republic of Azerbaijan has a high potential to connect Iran to the South Caucasus gas pipeline and TANAP in Turkey. The volume of transactions between Iran and Armenia in 2020 was about 400 million dollars. This volume in 2012 was about 275 million dollars. The trade balance between Iran and Armenia has always been in favor of Tehran. On the other hand, the volume of transactions between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan has grown more than Armenia. This volume was less than 270 million dollars in 2012 and reached 495 million dollars in 2019. Conclusion: This research was conducted with the aim of evaluating the economic and political situation of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Iran's foreign relations. The main findings of the article were that bilateral relations between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan increased more than the relations between Iran and Armenia from 2013 to 2021. The stated conditions are a normal choice for Iran because the geo-economic position of the Republic of Azerbaijan has more potential for expanding bilateral relations with Iran. Contrary to the Republic of Azerbaijan's geo-economic importance, Armenia is Iran's vital geopolitical partner in the South Caucasus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer death in women. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different demographic, behavioral and clinical factors on breast cancer. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, data collection forms were prepared from137 patients with breast cancer in Bushehr City and 137 women presenting to comprehensive health services centers as the control group. This form included demographic, behavioral and clinical characteristics. Mann-Whitney and Chi-square tests were used to measure the univariate relationship and logistic regression test to adjust the effect of different variables. Results: Univariate analysis revealed no significant relationship between breast cancer and occupation, night shift, menarche age, menopausal age, marriage age, number of pregnancies, tobacco use, consumption of meat, legumes, food rich in vitamin A, oral contraceptive pills and radioactive exposure. In univariate analysis, there was a significant relationship between breast cancer and family history, pregnancy history, age of first delivery, history of breastfeeding, physical activity, consumption of fish, dairy, hookah use, secondhand smoke and body mass index. Considering family history, high physical activity, consumption of high amounts of fish and low amounts of dairy products, there was a significant relationship between these factors and breast cancer even after adjusting the effect of other factors. Conclusion: Regarding significant relationships between family history, consumption of little amounts of dairy products and breast cancer, screening for breast cancer more regularly especially among those women with a family history of breast cancer and having a healthy lifestyle is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Researchers investigate and identify the gaps and frequency of studies related to specific knowledge by using scientometrics. The purpose of this study was to analyze the trend of scientific research in the field of climate change in Iran. Materials and Methods: All articles affiliated with Iran in the field of climate change have been cited in Scopus databases from 1991 to December 9, 2019, and were retrieved by using keywords like "climate change", "global warming", "global change", "climate variability", "greenhouse gas". The data were analyzed using R software. Results: The total number of documents was 2253. The trend of document production in the field of climate change in Iran follows an increasing exponential trend. Iran's collaboration with other countries in the field of climate change studies was significant so around 25% of scientific productions have been produced jointly with other countries. Keywords analysis showed a greater frequency for keywords including “downscaling”, “energy”, “global warming” and “uncertainty”. However, despite the importance of issues such as “adaptation” and “vulnerability” concerning climate change in Iran, the frequency of these keywords in climate change studies in Iran is low. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study and considering the importance of climate change and its effects on the country, also the importance of greenhouse gases including CO2, and the rank of Iran as the eighth country in the emission of these gases, it is recommended to pay more attention to issues such as “vulnerability”, “adaptability”, analysis of “greenhouse gases production”, “management of energy consumption” and the use of “renewable energies” in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: To prevent and reduce injuries when using the facilities of parks, it is necessary to provide safe public spaces which have a great impact on various aspects of life quality and social sustainability of the city . Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the safety of parks in the cities of Iran. Methods: This is a systematic review conducted through searching international databases of Scopus, PubMed, web of sciences, and local scientific databases including Civilica, SID, and Magiran and finally using Google search engine until August 2020 . The inclusion criteria included full articles in English and Farsi languages. Key words included "urban park", "playground", "safety" and "Iran". Also, other information obtained from these studies was analyzed using the collected questionnaires. Results: 21 studies met the inclusion criteria, the results of which showed safety indicators were weak to moderate in parks of the metropolitan areas . In the other cities, study indicators have been reported to be poor. Children's play equipment also did not fully comply with safety standards. Also, park lighting was not desirable and in terms of physical access, they were not designed to meet the needs of people with disabilities and children of all ages. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, to prevent the occurrence of injuries and damages caused by playing in parks, safety issues should be considered in environmental planning. It is recommended to pay attention to cases related to child safety, play equipment, health and environmental safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education has various goals, including improving the quality of human resources, which results in increased income and improved social welfare. In Iran, much attention has been paid to education, and the level of literacy and education has grown significantly in recent decades. Some experts believe that the development of education in Iran has not led to the development and increase of economic growth. In contrast, Singapore has been able to achieve high economic growth and development based on the development of education. The purpose of this study is to compare Iran and Singapore in the links between education and the whole economy and economic sectors. To examine the links between education and economic sectors and to determine its position among other sectors, the backward, forward and the total linkage are used and is examined in the framework of the Special Vector Approach. For this purpose, the Input-Output Table of 1390 Iran and 2011 Singapore, which have 31 economic sectors, has been used. The results show that the education backward linkage in Singapore is 45% higher than in Iran. On the other hand, the education forward linkage for Singapore is 135% higher than Iran, and educational services in Singapore are more supply-oriented than demand-oriented. Also, the total education linkage for Singapore is 86% higher than Iran and it shows the high impact of the education sector in Singapore compared to Iran. In terms of ranking linkages, the education sector has a relatively low ranking among the economic sectors in Iran. Thus, among 31 economic activities, this sector is ranked 28th in the backward linkage, 30th in the forward linkage and 31st in the total linkage. For Singapore, on the other hand, it ranks 30th in the backward linkage, 3th in the forward linkage and 18th in the total linkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate the flow of scientific production in Iran during 2007 to 2011. The triple helix model was used to assess the relationship between universities, industries and the government on scientific production process. Iranian scientific products in the three ISI citation databases of Science Citation Index (SCI), Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and Art and Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) during the abovementioned period was collected as the research population and the authors addresses were reviewed carefully to be used in TH model. ISI.exe and SPSS software were used for this purpose. The Triple Helix collaboration of University, Industry and Government was measured by mutual information (transmission T) derived from the Shannon's formulas. The T-value here represented the uncertainty when the probability distributions were combined. Findings indicated that the number of papers written by Iranian authors increased steadily from 8796 in 2007 to 19876 in 2011. Among the three sectors, university researchers had the most participation Researchers from the industry sector had the lowest participation. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional collaborations were calculated too. The results showed that University-Government collaboration was much higher than the University-Industry or Industry-Government collaborations indicating that the gap between Industry and the two other sectors in Iran was significantly big. Government-University interactions had a better condition. This can be explained due to the supports that research organizations receive from the government. Unfortunately the T value is not high for the three dimensional collaboration of University, Industry and Government researchers. But by adding the foreign collaboration as the forth factor into the study, the results change a little and the collaborations between different sectors and foreign researchers increase in comparison with internal collaborations. It is clear that an ideal point in relations to different sectors of Triple Helix of university, industry and government is not possible overnight but requires a long- term strategic planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Cutaneous leishmaniases with two forms of rural and urban is the endemic diseases and as a health problem in our country. Identification of parasite species and type of disease is very important for treatment of disease as well as for planning of control program. The microscopic observations by Giemsa-stained smears is the most common laboratory test for the diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis, but the determination of parasite species is impossible and utilization of other ways such as biochemical and molecular methods is required. This study was carried out to determine the parasite species caused cutaneous Leishmaniasis by Nested PCR in Damghan, Iran. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was performed on 67 patients with dermal lesions that referred to Damghan health center laboratory in Iran during 2008. The patient's information were recorded in questionnaire. DNA of Giemsa-stained slides from patients was extracted and evaluated by specific primers of kinetoplast DNA using Nested PCR. Results: Leishmania parasites were observed in 57 patients under light microscope. The 10 patients were infected by other dermal diseases. The PCR result showed the parasite presence inlesions of 57 patients is Leismania major. 54% of patients were male and 46% were female. 72% of the patients were lived in rural areas. 50.9% of disease was observed in over 25 years old patients. Hands were the most common region of ulcer (44.7%). 48% of the patients had one ulcer and the other patients had two or more ulcers. High prevalence (31.6%) of disease was observed in October. Conclusion: This study showed that zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis to be prevalent in this area and Nested PCR method is a sensitive and accurate to leishmania species characterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the most common bacterial infections that is affecting approximately half of the world's population. This bacterial infection causes gastrointestinal diseases, including gastritis and peptic ulcers. It is also the only microbial agent with definite association with gastrointestinal cancers such as adenocarcinoma and gastric mucosal lymphoma. The prevalence of this infection in Iran is reported to be 36% to 90% in different regions. Therefore, eradication of this germ is of great importance and has always been of interest to clinical researchers. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibiotic resistance of Helicobacter pylori infection in different regions of Iran based on previous studies. Also, introducing the most effective antibiotics based on antibiotic susceptibility in Iran is the ultimate goal of this study. Materials and Methods: Many studies have been done in different regions of Iran to show the antibiotic resistance of Helicobacter pylori, but no comprehensive review of these studies has been done until 2019. It is worth noting that the prevalence of resistance to antimicrobial therapies is increasing. Therefore, we conducted a review of these studies to obtain comprehensive results on the antibiotic susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori. We searched the databases of Google Scholar, Scopus, and PubMed and reviewed the studies in Iran until 2019 with more emphasis on the last five years. Results: A total of 48 articles were reviewed, the results are summarized in the tables, and the best antibiotics to affect on Helicobacter pylori infection were also identified. It is worth noting that eradication rates in different regions of Iran based on different treatment regimens of three, four, and concomitant drugs in different studies have also been shown in tables, separately. Conclusions: According to available data, the best first-line eradication regimen in Iran appears to be a 14-day quadruple therapy with amoxicillin, clarithromycin, bismuth, and a proton pump inhibitor (PPI). Cases of treatment failure should also be treated with a combination of amoxicillin and levofloxacin, or amoxicillin and rifabutin in combination with a PPI after evaluation and determination of antibiotic resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: This study investigated the role of media consumption on physical activity based on health pattern in Iranian.The method of this research was descriptive correlation with Structural Equation Method. Materials and Methods: The statistical population of this study consisted of all students aged 11-19 years in the whole country that 384 students were selected as statistical sample by cluster random sampling method. Two media consumption and physical activity based on health pattern Pender Were used to collect the research data. The formal and content validity of the questionnaires were confirmed and their reliability was obtained using Cronbach's alpha method 0.934 and 0.834, respectively. For data analyzing by SPSS software and Amos software of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling were used. Results: The results showed that media consumption had a positive and significant effect (P = 0.001) on Physical Activity behaviour (Beta = 0.82), Exercise Benefits (Beta = 0.80) and Exercise self-efficacy (Beta= 0.74) and Exercise Barriers (Beta=- 0.61). Conclusion: Therefore, it can be said that media consumption improves the level of physical activity based on students' health patterns. So, it is recommended that the media, especially sports media, pay special attention to children in their programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nowadays, gastroenterologists work a wide variety of areas and in this field a lot of new trends have been set up worldwide. According to our nation’s goals in science production and being a leader in innovation and technology, and also creating several cohorts in digestive and liver diseases, we need to calculate and predict the workforce needed. Materials and Methods: Among the 51 medical universities in Iran, 12 train adult and 5 train pediatric gastroenterologists and hepatologists. About 33 to 35 adult and 8 to 10 pediatric gastroenterologists are trained every year. Currently we have about 650 adult and pediatric gastroenterologists working in Iran, meaning one gastroenterologist per 124,000 population, which 30% are practicing in Tehran. Results: Each year 40-45 fellows of gastroenterology will be trained, leading to 950 adult and pediatric gastroenterologists by 2025. Our population is estimated to be about 90 million persons by then, leading to one gastroenterologist per every 95-100.000 population. Conclusion: Estimating the need for gastroenterologists depends on the per capita income, governmental funds and insurance policies. Distribution of gastroenterologists is centralized in large cities and capitals of each province. Every year about 45 gastroenterologists enter Iran’s workforce, along with this increase we need necessary equipment for diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures. Proper distribution of graduates can facilitate and improve services in this field. Till 2025, our population is estimated to be about 90 million and we will have about 950 gastroenterologists, meaning 1 per every 95-100.000 population. Therefore, the estimates given by Strategic Planning Committee seems reasonable and justifiable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, planning system has faced a change in the concept of development because of the intrinsic dynamics of human societies and the ineffectiveness of theories in solving problems. The Intellectual concept development has required assessment of the conceptual framework of planning theories in the rural development. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to investigate rural development policies of the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan of Iran based on postmodernism theory. The research methodology is qualitative based on Meta-synthesis and content analysis. The method of collecting data is library-based and logical reasoning was used to understand the categories. The results showed that key principles of postmodernism theory are non-rationality. Evaluation of rural development policies revealed that these policies are relatively compliant with principles of postmodernism planning. In other words, programs derived from modernism are observed along with postmodernism planning policies that implies to eclecticism thoughts in provision of rural development policies of the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Introduction: By advances in remote sensing techniques, it has been possible to better monitor environmental phenomena. Satellite data with appropriate temporal and spatial coverage along with high spatial resolutions are valuable resources in environmental studies. During the past two decades, many studies have been conducted to evaluate the temporal variations of accumulation and melting as well as the seasonal characteristics of snow covers using remote sensing data. For instance, Hall et al. (2015) used Landsat satellite data from 1972 to 2013 to study changes in snowmelt time in the Fremont Lake Basin in the United States. The results have shown that snow melting time in this region begins earlier in the 2000s than in the 1972-1999 periods and that increasing nighttime temperature in spring and autumn resulted in earlier melting of snow cover. In another study, Bi et al. (2015) used MODIS data for the period 2003–2013 to investigate the time of beginning and end of snow cover in the northeast Tibetan Plateau. Their findings showed that although during the study period, the timing of snow accumulation and ablation varied, the spatial distribution of the number of snow-covered days has shown a stable behavior. 2. Methodology In the present study, in order to investigate the trend of changes at the beginning of the snow cover accumulation season in Iran, the version six of MODIS Terra (MOD10A1) and MODIS Aqua (MYD10A1) for the time span from 1379/7/1 to 1397/6/31 (1999 to 2007) was used. One of the natural barriers to monitoring snow cover is the cloud issue problem. Cloud contamination causes snow cover to hide beneath the satellite's field of view. Various techniques have been suggested by researchers to reduce cloudiness and better observation of snow cover. In the present study, three techniques including the combination of two satellite and temporal and spatial filtering were applied to the raw data. The application of these three techniques resulted in a significant reduction of the cloud cover effect on the data. After the preparation and construction of the snow cover dataset, the first day of the snow cover reported by the MODIS (based on the first day of October) was computed and that day was defined as the start of the snow cover season, this process was carried out for all the 7541502 pixels in the country. This process was repeated over 18 years of available data and finally, the slope of the regression line was calculated on more than seven million pixels. 3. Discussion Calculations of the trend of spatial variations of the snow cover accumulation season showed that generally there was a significant increasing trend in the western parts of the country on the Zagros Mountains, it means that the first time that snow was accumulated during the snow cover season is advancing towards late fall and winter. In a clearer sense, it means that the first day of snow cover was occurring later in these areas. But in parts of central Zagros, the beginning of the snow cover season had a negative trend, meaning that the early days of the snow cover were occurring sooner than the long-term condition. The negative trend of the beginning of the snow cover accumulation season was also seen in the Alborz Mountains and the northwestern parts of the country. This negative trend appeared to be due to the earlier onset of autumn precipitation in the study period. Investigating temporal changes at the beginning of snow cover accumulation season in Iran, on each of the altitude belts in 50 meters, spatial steps showed that up to the altitude belt of 2750 meters, the beginning of snow accumulation season was advancing toward late fall and winter. However, from the altitudes of 2800 meters upwards, the onset of the snow cover season was turning backward. In a clearer sense, it was moving back toward the early autumn season. 4. Conclusion The purpose of the present study was to investigate the temporal and spatial variations of the beginning of snow cover accumulation season in Iran. For this purpose, MODIS Terra and MODIS Aqua data were obtained at the spatial resolution of 500 × 500 meters for the time interval from 1379/7/1 to 1397/6/31 (1999 to 2007). After the construction and preparation of the snow cover database in Iran, the trend of changes at the beginning of the snow cover accumulation season was calculated temporally and spatially. The beginning of the snow cover accumulation season means the first day that a pixel was covered by snow based on the first day of October. For each hydrological year, the beginning of the snow cover season was calculated for each of the MODIS pixels and finally, the regression slope of changes was then computed. The findings showed that snow cover accumulation season was advancing towards winter on the western and northeast highlands of the country while snow cover accumulation season on the north and northwest of the country was forwarding back to fall. The calculations also showed that up to 2750 meters the onset of the snow cover season was moving toward winter, while from the height of 2800 meters, the onset of snow cover season was forwarding back to the fall season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of uncertainty in inflation, Bank finance, bank interest rates, liquidity, stock prices, price index and GDP on housing prices in Iran. In order to achieve this goal, seasonal data has been used during the period 1991 to 2013. EGARCH pattern (1,1) as an estimation of AR (4) residues for inflation is used as a substitute for inflation uncertainty measurement, and a short-term model and long-term relationships between research variables have been set. The results of short-term model and long-run pattern show that uncertainty regarding inflation, interest rate, liquidity, GDP and national income have a positive and significant effect on housing prices. Indeed, stock prices and housing finance have a negative and significant effect on Housing prices. It is noteworthy to state that there are different sensitivities to housing prices in most variables, such as household income per capita, liquidity, and stock price index in the long term and short-term; so that, according to the theory, the elasticity of house prices relative to household income per capita, the volume of money and the stock price index in the long run is more than short-term. The results of the estimation of the error correction model indicate that in each period, about one fourth of the imbalance of dependent variable of its long-term equilibrium values over a period is moderated and eliminated in the subsequent period. In other words, if any shock or equilibrium occurs in housing prices, it will return to equilibrium after four periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives HBV, a classic viral Transfusion Transmitted Infection(TTI), is considered an important health and blood safety issue in every society. Prevalence of HBsAg positivity is variable among Iranian blood donors nationwide. This study was performed to determine the frequency of HBsAg positive blood donors and the probable associated risk factors in Mazandaran province in 2013. Materials and Methods In this cross sectional descriptive study, demographic and donation data were gathered from IBTO data base (NEGARE). HBsAg positive donors were recalled for post test counseling and assessment of probable risk factors. SPSS 16 Chicago, χ2 and T-test were used as tools for data analysis. Results Among 131950 whole blood donors with mean age of 31.1 ± 9.5, 174(0.13%) proved to be HbsAg positive. Deferral rate was 16.6%. The highest and lowest positivity rates were observed at Babol and Galoogah, respectively. 95% of positive cases were detected among first time and male donors (p = 0.0001). Older age, lower education level, and first time donation were obtained as demographic risk factors primarily. No significant association between gender and marital status was found. However, post test counseling revealed nonimmune dental procedures, high risk sexual contacts, cupping, family history of Hepatitis, hospital admission, tattooing, history of surgery, Intravenous Drug Use (IDU), endoscopic procedures, transfusion history and needle stick as risk factors in HBsAg positive donors. Conclusions HbsAg positivity rate in Mazandaran province donors is compatible with the country rate (0.13%). Main risk factors except gender and marital status are almost similar to other studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) as a pathogenic organism is colonized in the gastric microniche of 50% of the world's population. Although research on this bacterium has been taking place over the last few decades, the best strategies ending in its eradication remain unclear. The main cause of H. pylori treatment failure is a rapid increase in antibiotic resistance. Materials and Methods: A systematic review of the literature on H. pylori antibiotic resistance in Iran was performed within the time span of 1997 to 2017. Data obtained from various studies were collected as follows, 1) year of research 2) number of the strains of H. pylori tested, 3) study place, 4) resistance of H. pylori to various antibiotics as a percentage and 5) methods used for evaluation of antibiotic resistance. Results: In total, 36 studies have been conducted on antibiotic resistance of H. pylori strains isolated from different parts of Iran. The mean antibiotic resistance among H. pylori strains to various antibiotics were as follows: metronidazole (59.95%), clarithromycin (17.03%), tetracycline (10.11%), amoxicillin (13.43%), levofloxacin (16.83%), ciprofloxacin (23.27%), and furazolidone (13.58%). Conclusion: In the current review, we showed that the prevalence of antibiotic resistance among H. pylori strains increased between the antibiotics mentioned in Iran during the years 1997-2017. It has been emphasized that prescribing an appropriate regimen for successfull eradication of H. pylori requires sufficient information on bacterial antibiotic susceptibility in different geographical areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the importance of discussing the effect of government debt size on economic growth, this study examines the Validity of the Debt Laffer Curve using a Smooth Transition Regression (STR) model in Iran during 1973-2016. The findings support a threshold behavior of two regimes between the government debt size and economic growth in the Iran's economy. The threshold level of government debt size is 41.70% of the GDP. In periods that the government debt size is less than 41.71% or the first regime, government debt size has a negative effect on economic growth. Therefore, the evidence does not corroborate the existence of the Debt Laffer Curve in Iran's economy. The disapproval of this hypothesis and the negative impact of government debt on economic growth - at low levels of debt size - can be rooted in the fact that government spends the borrowed funds on the deficits that emerged from structural imperfection and institutional rigidity, while it should be used to develop infrastructures or foster productive investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1- Introduction The increase in the global mean temperature during the twentieth century, in particular over the last 30 years, has provided a strong incentive for investigations of climate change. Climatic and weather hazards are amongst the most deadly and destructive natural disasters worldwide, resulting in loss of life, severe damage and large economic and societal losses (Nutter 1999 Su et al. 2006). Those natural and human effects are mainly triggered by shifts of frequency and intensity of extreme weather conditions related to temperature, precipitation, or other aspects of climate, rather than changes of mean climate (Katz and Brown 1992 Plummer et al. 1999). Heat or cold waves are characterized by the occurrence of a sequence of days with high or low values of temperature. These waves have significant impacts in terms of their socioeconomic effects on health, agriculture, forest fires, and the production and consumption of energy (SIAM, 2002 García-Herrera et al., 2005 Pereira et al., 2005 Trigo et al., 2005). The aim of this study is investigation and recognition of cold wave and spatiotemporal analysis over Iran. Methodology In order to recognition of cold waves in Iran the interpolated minimum daily data of Asfezari Data base during 1/1/1962 to 31/12/2004. The data matrix with dimension15706 7187 has been created that located on the columns pixels and on the rows are days. In this study, by 6 indices that calculate the intensity, duration and frequency of cold waves, the characterizations of the cold waves in Iran has been investigated. The indices were based on the 10, 5 and 1 percentiles. The indices calculated for any pixels over Iran. Then the significant of trends of indices investigated by nonparametric Mann-Kendal method. The slope of trend on the pixels that have trend in 95% confidence level calculated by linear method. The programs of the calculation has been written in Matlab software environment and the maps has been drawn by Surfer software. Table1. Cold wave indices summary. The T1 value is defined as the 10, 5, 1th percentile value of minimum temperature based on the entire data record(1/1/1962-31/12/2004) No Index name Definition Unit 1 10,5 ,1P value The value of the 10, 5 and 1th percentile minimum temperature for each year °C 2 Number of runs The number of runs of consecutive days(1or more) over the T1 value per year Day 3 Average run length The average length of a run of consecutive days over the T1 value per year Day 4 Maximum run length The longest run of consecutive days over the T1value per year Day 5 Minimum temperature index The mean of the warmest three consecutive minimum temperatures per year °C 6 Cold Spell Duration Index Annual count of days with at least 6 consecutive days when Minimum temperature [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1- Introduction Precipitation is usually recognized as the most important and variable factor of climate which is considered from different aspects in environmental sciences especially meteorology and climatology. Because of precipitation temporal-spatial variability importance, and its role in communication and economical disasters, it has attracted much attention by many researchers (Rodriguez et al. 1998 Ochola and Kerkides 2003 Baigorria et al. 2007 Jianting et al. 2009 Nastos and Zerefos 2009). Spatially, the amount and characteristics of precipitation will change greatly, especially in the arid countries and middle-latitudes in distances less than one kilometer. In order to investigate the precipitation variability, various time scales are taken into account. Scales to study the precipitation element varies from different geological eras consisting of several thousands and millions year periods to month, hour, and minute (Livada and Asimakopoulos 2005). 2. Methodology The main data under study are 24-hour maxima precipitation frequency for each month of a year in the whole statistical period. We used 40 weather stations which spread out over the whole country along with a full statistical records and a statistical period of 40-years (1966-2005). Harmonic analysis is usually used to study the periodical changes, and includes oscillations or changes display in a time series obtained from sinus and cosines function set (Kirkyla and Hameed 1989 Wilks 2006). The first harmonic shows an annual cycle with the greatest amplitude as compared to other harmonics. The second harmonic indicates a semi-annual change, while the third one illustrates 4-months seasonal changes in details besides it is an index of inter-annual patterns of frequency. Eventually, the values of demonstrate the time motion of maxima frequency along the time axis. 3. Discussion 3.1 Harmonic Analysis In monthly data, 6 harmonics are required to explain the data variance. In the studies, also 3 harmonics are used to explain data variance. Of course, since the first two harmonics explain nearly 90% of the total variance, in some research only the first two harmonics are used to study the annual changes (Livada et al. 2008 Nastos and Zerefos 2010). According to the statements discussed above, first harmonic consists of more PVR1 and plays a significant role in variance distribution in central and southern stations. The amount of first harmonics role decreases in north-west stations. 3.1.1 The First Harmonic The 1st harmonic indicates annual changes and explains variance largely in most stations. The first harmonic which signifies an annual alternation in regions with regular precipitation has longer amplitude in comparison with other harmonics. Spatial distribution of the first harmonic demonstrates the following: 1. In northern coasts of Persian Gulf, this value consists of a high value of about 60-70%. 2. In the west, PVR1 values are approximately 80%. 3. The lowest value of PVR1 is seen in southeastern and northwestern of Iran. 3.1.2 The Second Harmonic The 2nd harmonic indicating oscillations with shorter time periods (six months) as compared to 1st harmonic in sections with more PVR1 consists of lower values. PVR2 values in the northwest of the country in Azerbaijan region, the values are remarkable (60%). Spatial distribution of T2 in this section has more complexity. 4. Conclusions Because PVR component indicates the role of each harmonic in explaining and interpretation of variance, in each section which consists of a high value, the higher the portions of changes, the higher the share of changes will be. 1. In many regions in Iran, the 1st harmonic plays a significant role in variance distribution. 2. The highest values of PVR1 for extreme precipitations were observed in Kashan. 3. After the 1st harmonic, the 2nd harmonic has a very important role in variance distribution. 4. Extreme precipitation has a more harmonious pattern in the central parts of Iran around Kashan, southern coasts of Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf's shores as compared to other parts. 5. In northwest and southeast sections, the PVR value of the 1st harmonic is less. On the contrary, PVR value of 2nd harmonic increases especially in the northwest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) as a pathogenic organism is colonized in the gastric microniche of 50% of the world's population. Although research on this bacterium has been taking place over the last few decades, the best strategies ending in its eradication remain unclear. The main cause of H. pylori treatment failure is a rapid increase in antibiotic resistance. Materials and Methods: A systematic review of the literature on H. pylori antibiotic resistance in Iran was performed within the time span of 1997 to 2017. Data obtained from various studies were collected as follows, 1) year of research 2) number of the strains of H. pylori tested, 3) study place, 4) resistance of H. pylori to various antibiotics as a percentage and 5) methods used for evaluation of antibiotic resistance. Results: In total, 36 studies have been conducted on antibiotic resistance of H. pylori strains isolated from different parts of Iran. The mean antibiotic resistance among H. pylori strains to various antibiotics were as follows: metronidazole (59.95%), clarithromycin (17.03%), tetracycline (10.11%), amoxicillin (13.43%), levofloxacin (16.83%), ciprofloxacin (23.27%), and furazolidone (13.58%). Conclusion: In the current review, we showed that the prevalence of antibiotic resistance among H. pylori strains increased between the antibiotics mentioned in Iran during the years 1997-2017. It has been emphasized that prescribing an appropriate regimen for successfull eradication of H. pylori requires sufficient information on bacterial antibiotic susceptibility in different geographical areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]