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This paper aimed to identify and evaluate the environmental factors that influence human health in Hashtpar. The town locates in the coastal plain of northern Iran and has an area of 1378 ha and a population of about 53,000 people. Fourteen indicators were included in the dataset and the data was collected in 34 data collection points through the evaluation of at least 5 experienced people or by calculations using Geographical Information System (GIS) and related shape files. First, it is used a descriptive and qualitative method and statistical parameters to analyze each determinant of health, regardless of its spatial differences, then the data entered into GIS to produce zoning maps using the Kriging interpolation tool. Findings show that generally, healthy environment indicators are higher than average level and the indicators are in better condition in central parts of the town than in its outskirts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Muḥammad Karīm Khān Kirmānī (d. 1871) wrote Khātamayah nāṣirīyyah (Naṣīrean Epilogue), a concise treatise of a few pages, in 1865 (eighteenth of Rajab of 1273 hijri); thirteen years after the emergence of the Bābī movement and seven years after the execution of Sayyid ʿAlī Muḥammad Shīrāzī (d. 1850) in Tabriz. In this treatise, he expresses his loyalty to both the fourth Qajar monarch, Nāṣir al‐Dīn Shah (d. 1896) and Twelver Shīʿīsm. Furthermore, he expounds on the political inclination of Kirmānī Shaykhīsm as well as the suspicious affiliation of his school with the Bābīs, which was a matter of speculation for the court. Khātamayah nāṣirīyyah, which took its name from the Shah, should be treated as Kirmānī's political manifesto, reflecting his uncomfortable attitude toward the presence of foreigners in a Muslim country, which was resented by the monarch as well. Kirmānī not only takes sides with him, but also warns him of the harm of becoming too close to infidels, which may even result in the dominance of kuffār on Muslim territories. Kirmānī's outlook toward politics was largely shaped by the Bābī movement. As no hint of having any political philosophy is traceable in his writings prior to 1260 H/1852, and since Khātamayah nāṣirīyyah was written shortly after the suppression of the movement, one can come to the conclusion that the socio‐religious anxiety and the radical tone of Bābīsm made him adopt such a conservative approach, which seemed to be the only tenable way of representing his patriotism. Moreover, Khātamayah nāṣirīyyah, should be treated as the official response of the Shaykhī school to the messianic radicalism of Shīrāzī and his followers. Khātamayah nāṣirīyyah has a sister text, Nāṣirīyyah dar jihād (Naṣīrean in Jihād), which was finished in the same year, although it is lengthier and discusses Jihād, inter alia, in a more nuanced way. In some copies, Nāṣirīyyah is published with Khātamah as its epilogue. In this paper, I will read and analyze both Khātamayah nāṣirīyyah and Nāṣirīyyah dar jihād to investigate Kirmānī's stance on politics, religion and nationalism. Relevant to this are his arguments against any probable affiliation with Bābīsm. As a product of its time, Khātamayah nāṣirīyyah reflects the concerns of a jurist‐theologian who was able to foresee how the religious messianism and social radicalism of Bābīsm and similar movements, can bring considerable changes to state, society and faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the game theory solution idea, the study seeks to suggest the ranking of an optimal solution when there are several Nash equilibria. The integration of the MCDM approach and game theory is a common strategy for addressing real-world challenges. This study introduces a novel hybrid method, combining a non-cooperative static game from game theory with the trade-off ranking (TOR) method from MCDM. The proposed hybrid method is used to rank multiple Nash equilibria concerning some criteria. The methodology for both static game and TOR method are explained in the paper. The game theory model used is a two-player non-constant-sum static game. The proposed methodology is tested using international cooperation in Iran. The result suggests the ranking of the combined strategies using the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of petroleum substances has a long historical tradition in Iran. Glance (1970) reported that the "first man‐made oil well was dug" in the ancient city of Susa (present‐day Shush), about 40 km northwest of Ahwaz, in 500 BC during the reign of the Achaemenid emperor Darius I. Writing in the fifth century BC, Herodotus described petroleum production near a place called Ardericca, probably present‐day Masjed Soleyman, located 210 furlongs from Susa (Lees, 1950). The petroleum substances produced included bitumen which was used in construction and the waterproofing of ships. Sorkhabi (2005) detailed the petroleum history in Iran during ancient and medieval times. The modern quest for oil in Iran dates from the second half of the 19th century. From a historical perspective, this modern period can be divided into six distinct phases: (i) The early years, 1872–1900; (ii) The Anglo‐Persian years, 1901–1932; (iii) The Anglo‐Iranian Years and Nationalization, 1933–1953; (iv) The second Pahlavi years, 1954–1978 including the rise of OPEC; (v) The Islamic Revolution and Iran‐Iraq War, 1979–1989; and (vi) Buyback Contracts and US Sanctions, 1990–Present. The search for oil was singularly unsuccessful during the first of these phases and the early years of the second phase. However, after a difficult six‐year exploration campaign, oil in commercial quantities was struck in the early hours of 26 May, 1908 at Maidan‐e Naftun, which in later years achieved world fame as the Masjed Soleyman oil field. Since then, more than 120 oil and gas field discoveries have been made in Iran's onshore areas and its territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. The story of oil has always been an emotive and politically charged issue in Iran and has been the focus of great national interest and debate for over a century. Certainly, the discovery in 1908 marked a milestone in Iran's 20th century history: it ushered in a new era – an era not only of progress and prosperity, but also of social and political upheaval and turmoil that has not yet ended (Ala, 2007). In this paper, important events in each of the historical phases identified above are briefly reviewed. Emphasis is placed on the emergence of the modern petroleum industry in Iran, and the early phases are covered in particular detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does power shape foreign policy attitudes? Drawing on advances in psychological research on power, I argue that the sense of relative state power explains foreign policy hawkishness. The intuitive sense that "our state" is stronger than "your state" activates militant internationalism, an orientation centered on the efficacy of force and deterrence to achieve state aims. Beyond general orientation towards the world, this sense of power explains discrete attitudes towards pressing security issues, from threat perception in the South China Sea to nuclear weapons use against Iran. Five original surveys across the US, China, and Russia, as well as an experiment fielded on the US public, lend support to these claims. The psychological effects of state power overshadow dispositional traits common in behavioral IR, like individuals' personalities and moral proclivities. More surprisingly, power changes individuals, making hawks of even the most dovish. Taken together, the paper presents a "first image reversed" challenge to standard bottom-up accounts of foreign policy opinion and offers unique explanatory leverage in a potential era of US decline, China's rise, and Russian belligerence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new responsive-green-cold vaccine supply chain network during the COVID-19 pandemic is developed for the first time. According to the proposed network, a new multi-objective, multi-period, multi-echelon mathematical model for the distribution-allocation-location problem is designed. Another important novelty in this paper is that it considers an Internet-of-Things application in the COVID-19 condition in the suggested model to enhance the accuracy, speed, and justice of vaccine injection with existing priorities. Waste management, environmental effects, coverage demand, and delivery time of COVID-19 vaccine simultaneously are therefore considered for the first time. The LP-metric method and meta-heuristic algorithms called Gray Wolf Optimization (GWO), and Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS) algorithms are then used to solve the developed model. The other significant contribution, based on two presented meta-heuristic algorithms, is a new heuristic method called modified GWO (MGWO), and is developed for the first time to solve the model. Therefore, a set of test problems in different sizes is provided. Hence, to evaluate the proposed algorithms, assessment metrics including (1) percentage of domination, (2) the number of Pareto solutions, (3) data envelopment analysis, and (4) diversification metrics and the performance of the convergence are considered. Moreover, the Taguchi method is used to tune the algorithm's parameters. Accordingly, to illustrate the efficiency of the model developed, a real case study in Iran is suggested. Finally, the results of this research show MGO offers higher quality and better performance than other proposed algorithms based on assessment metrics, computational time, and convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores experiences of temporary labor migration that entailed Yugoslav export of know-how (highly skilled knowledge and expertise) between 1980 and 1991, a result of industrial collaboration between Mining and Smelting Combine Bor, a state-owned copper-processing 'giant' in former Yugoslavia, and the biggest copper company in Iran, National Iranian Copper Industries Company. Based on interviews with individuals engaged in the Yugoslav project, supplemented by analysis of documents and historic newspapers from that period, the paper analyzes everyday practices of managerial bureaucratic improvisations and improvisations at work. The article shows how such improvisations helped overcome excessive and rigid Yugoslav socialist bureaucracy and made Yugoslav entrepreneurial capitalist ventures possible. Moreover, it argues that the export of know-how was constitutive of silent acceptances of reproduction of capitalist relations, which helped consolidate the process of liberalization of the socialist market in the late 1980s. We argue that such temporary labor migration and the often improvised work carried out by the Yugoslav workers cannot be seen as a resistance or alternative to the Western/Northern hegemonies. Rather, we argue that such practices were facilitators of the capitalist ventures at semi-peripheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: The present study was to evaluate the microbial diversity inhabiting biodeteriorated precious manuscripts of the Holy Quran placed in one of the repositories of the Library of Astan Quds Razavi (AQR), and its relation to the air microbial diversity. Materials and Methods: Three non-invasive sampling methods, culture-based techniques, and molecular identification were used to investigate the microorganisms involved in deterioration. To investigate the air microbial quality and its role in the destruction of the repository objects, air samples were taken from six different points inside the repository. Biomodeling studies were designed to verify the impact of microbial isolates. Results: 14 fungal isolates were obtained from three deteriorated ancient Quran manuscripts. The most frequently isolated fungi from the different substrates were Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. In the air, the prevalence across fungal genera was rather uniform. 30 species of the identified bacteria were collected from three manuscripts. The results obtained in the present study showed that the bacterial species from different genera belonged to three phyla: Proteobacteria (n = 2), Actinobacteria (n = 4), and Firmicutes (n = 24). The paper strips were artificially colonized by Aspergillus sp., Penicillium chrysogenum, and Talaromyces diversus producing spots which were visible to the naked eye. In the scanning electron microscopy images, the colonization of the selected organism was observed. Conclusion: The characteristics of paper inoculated artificially with these microbial isolates confirmed their deteriorating effects. Based on molecular identification, the similarity of fungal and bacterial species isolated from both substrates and air samples suggest the direct relationship between microorganisms from the air and those isolated from the manuscripts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seismic design of new structures in Iran is currently based on earthquake hazard maps for a fixed return period of 475 years. However, this can lead to an unequal level of risk due to uncertainty in collapse capacity and differences in hazard curves in different locations. In the work reported in this paper, a risk-targeted approach was used to determine the peak ground acceleration (PGA) for designing reinforced concrete moment-resisting-frame (RC MRF) buildings in four important port cities in southern Iran. The three main parameters considered for determining risk-targeted PGA were the structural fragility curve, the seismic hazard curve and the target annual collapse probability. Nine RC MRF buildings with different geometrical characteristics were evaluated and their fragility curves were extracted. Then, using a risk integral, the annual collapse probability and PGA of the frames were obtained for the studied cities. Comparison of the results showed that an approach proposed in the literature for Europe is in accordance with the results of the approach proposed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: An increase in the number of free-roaming dogs and the related consequences (e.g., dog biting) has been observed across Iranian cities. So far, no clear scientific reasons for this increase were demonstrated, and a few existing domestic studies have only investigated the behaviours and frequencies of these animals in the cities. Based on online news articles, the on-the-ground reasons, challenges and dog-controlling activities mentioned by key urban and health authorities are examined in this paper. A scientific link is established between increased urbanisation, its features and its implications for dogs and humans. History has witnessed a long-term relationship between humans and animals. Historical documents and modern findings prove that humans' needs to use animals for companions or services are commonplace in many parts of the world, leading to the domestication of certain animals. Yet, modern societies have degraded many natural habitats for wildlife, confining them to small patches of landscapes or urban areas. Whether a domesticated/free-roaming animal or a wild species, their close contact with humans can create cumbersome situations for both species. This paper explores a link between online media content and on-the-ground efforts to manage free-roaming dogs as a rare case study. As indicated by news articles, the municipal costs of managing free-roaming dogs in Iranian cities have increased, and this can potentially derail the control of such dogs in the long run. This paper lays out pivotal factors for recent increasing human–animal encounters, which have led to many challenges (e.g., rabies) across cities in Iran. We show that some urban features (e.g., topography) can influence the presence and behaviours of free-roaming animals in the cities. The findings of this paper can be related to other developing countries where the plague of rabies is rising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current knowledge and available equipment are not sufficient for quantitative risk assessment of nanomaterials. Therefore, to assess the risks of activities involved with these materials, many qualitative methods have been introduced. Control banding-based methods are the most popular and widely used methods that have been evaluated and modified many times. Therefore, this study examines the use of these methods by Iranian researchers in comparison with other researchers from all over the world. Search for eligible papers was conducted on Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and SID databases with "Control banding," "Control banding methods," "Risk assessment," "Risk management," "Nanomaterials," and "Nanoparticles" keywords. After identifying the main papers, "Related articles" and "citations" options in Google Scholar and ResearchGate were used to identify additional studies. Forty-eight articles have been reviewed which 7 of them were conducted in Iran. Comparison of Iranian studies with foreign studies showed the following: foreign studies have used all CB-based methods, more or less; but Iranian studies used only the NanoTool method and in two cases the guidance method, In many foreign studies, quantitative methods were used along with qualitative methods, while in Iran, only these qualitative methods were used. In Iranian studies, these methods were used only to assess the risk of engineered nanomaterials, while in some foreign studies, the risk of incidental nanomaterials was also investigated. Iran is one of the leading countries in the field of nanotechnology. So, this level of familiarity and use of risk assessment methods for activities involved with nanomaterials is absolutely not enough. Therefore, it is recommended that appropriate measures be taken to familiarize companies and academic centers with nanomaterial risk assessment methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reza Shah's attempt in the latter part of his autocracy (1935–1941) to implement formal education for the clergy continues to be one of the most understudied periods of Iran's modern history. The primary aim of this paper is to investigate the ḥawza's strategic response to Reza Shah's envisaged secularism and to assess the contribution made by Ayatollah Muhammad Hojjat Kuh Kamari (1892–1952), the religious authority leading the ḥawza ʿilmīyya of Qum during this crucial phase. At a time, when the political establishment actively attempted to change the cultural identity of Iran through its promotion of modernization with Western connotations, he viewed this as a new challenge that endangered the Islamic fabric of Iranian society and placed an emphasis on a socio-cultural response by Shia clerics. By drawing on a range of primary sources not consulted before, this study aims at understanding how the institutional and intellectual development of this critical transition period led to the breathing period for ḥawza ʿilmīyya of Qum and the quasi-democratic phase of Iran (1941–1953). Additionally, this paper will analyse the approach of dynamic quietism that prioritized the engagement of the 'ulamāʾ with education and society as the crucial factor in ensuring their socio-cultural influence in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As Covid-19 became a pandemic, numerous people were forced to stay at home, leading to increased intimate partner violence (IPV) in many countries, particularly in developing and least-developed ones. This paper aims to highlight the IPV based on 15 different cases formed from the practical evidence of five developing countries. Design/methodology/approach: The authors interviewed 15 women from five countries who were the victims of IPV during the early periods of Covid-19 outbreak. Due to geographical remoteness, the authors conducted informal telephone interviews to collect the participants' personal experiences. The conversations were recorded with participants' permission; afterwards, the authors summarized participants' experiences into 15 different cases without revealing their original identities (instead, disguised names were used). Findings: It was revealed that the women were the primary victims of such violence, particularly from their intimate partners (husbands). In most cases, such IPV, as reported by the interviewees, originated or increased after the pandemic when they were forced to stay at home, losing their partners' jobs or income sources. Originality/value: The authors summarized the causes of IPV and put forward a few action recommendations based on the interviewees' practical experience and existing literature. This paper will open a new window for research investigations on IPV during emergencies such as Covid-19 outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of grey literature as a means of primary, nonconventional communication is accepted in almost every scientific field. Although grey literature covers a wide spectrum of nonconventional documents, both producers and users of grey literature have always considered it to be a primary source of information. The National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) was founded in 1937. The main goal of this organization is collecting, preserving, organizing and disseminating information about printed and non-printed works in Iran, and taking measures and making decisions to guarantee the accuracy, ease and speed of research and study in all fields to promote national culture. In order to achieve these goals, and according to the law, all private and public publishers have to deposit a copy of their publications (book and non -book materials) to the NLAI. There are more than 1.790.000 issues in the grey literature in the NLAI, and over 170.000 of them belong to the Medicine group. In this study, the amount of grey resources in the field of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary, paramedical and pharmacology in the NLAI is surveyed. How many grey literatures are there in each medical subject's groups? How many of them have been digitized? How many articles are in the field of medicine group? How many of them are conference papers? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the key factors influencing driving risk perception in Iran. We conducted separate surveys for two groups of Iranian drivers, namely passenger car drivers and truck drivers. In order to assess driving risk perception, respondents were asked what they think about their Probability of Having a Road Accident (PHRA) and if they eventually have an accident as a driver, what they think about the Probability of it being Fatal or causing Severe Injury (PFSI). A Bivariate Ordered Probit model, which considers the possible correlation between PHRA and PFSI, was developed to explain the observed driving risk perception using type of vehicle, driving experience, socio-demographic information, and driving behaviour. According to the results, vehicle type, vehicle age, driving experience, sleep quality, at-fault accidents over the past three years, vehicles safety-related equipment, and education level have significant effects on driving risk perception (p-value < 0.05). In addition, this paper compares the driving risk perception of truck and passenger car drivers. The results show that truck drivers have a higher perception of PHRA and PFSI compared with passenger car drivers (p-value < 0.05). The results may convince policy-makers to consider the characteristics of the two categories of drivers when designing regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of Qurʾānīc exegesis in the Shaykhī school has been widely, albeit surprisingly, neglected in modern scholarship. It is surprising because there is hardly any aspect of Shaykhīsm that has remained intact after scholars have touched upon different dimensions of the school. Considering the Qurʾān, its centrality in Islamic tradition and the different methods of reading it, what is commonly understood and accepted by the mainstream as exegesis (tafsīr) might not necessarily be a suitable label for what the Shaykhī leaders did in their very 'distinguished' reading and interpretation of the Book. I call it 'distinguished', because Shaykhī elitism remains far from any compromising effort that might reduce the complexity and convolution of an all‐celestial text into a literal interpretation. From a Shaykhī perspective, any such simplified challenge would not do justice to the deep and multiple levels (buṭūn) of meaning in the Qurʾān, which need an esoteric, and at times lettrist methodology to unveil divine revelation (tanzīl). Furthermore, every word needs to be understood in consideration of the akhbār of the imāms as well. Given this, the present paper will examine a number of key writings, delving into how the Shaykhīʿulemā have interpreted the Qurʾān from an esoteric perspective, and by so doing have left a legacy which has culminated in what I call 'the exegetical school of Kerman'. Pertinent to this is the language of the school.1 As the paper argues, the choice of Arabic as the language of tafsīr in a Persophone context was deliberate, and in fact should be understood in the light of the Shaykhī approach that assigns understanding the Qurʾān to only a skilled few. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric arc furnace (EAF) is one of the most disturbing loads in the power system as it is highly time‐varying and nonlinear. In this paper, new models based on the instantaneous EAF voltage and current, recorded from EAFs in Mobarakeh steel company in Isfahan/Iran are proposed. The focus of this paper is on developing efficient models based on the Schwarz model where three modified types are proposed. The original Schwarz model has four constant parameters. Unlike the original Schwarz model which uses invariant parameters, the time‐varying nature of the arc's parameters is considered in the proposed models. The first modified model has two constant model orders and two time‐varying coefficients. Additionally, to further enhance the model's accuracy, in the second modified model, six parameters include three constant model orders, and three time‐varying coefficients exist. The third model uses all the original model's parameters as time‐series parameters. The parameters of the time‐varying model are derived using autoregressive moving average (ARMA) models. The accuracy of the proposed model is evaluated by calculating the active power, harmonics, instantaneous flicker, and short‐term flicker. Finally, three MATLAB codes are provided to generate the model parameters time series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main contribution of this paper is to formulate the problem of optimal design of renewable wind/solar/biomass hybrid system for grid-independent applications in a region of Iran and to compare the genetic algorithm (GA) and performance of particle swarm optimization (PSO) on this optimization problem. There are many types of research on solar and wind hybrid energy systems, but research on solar/wind/biomass hybrid energy systems is rare. The biomass energy system can be used as a support and complementary system along with wind and solar energy systems. This paper studies the optimum design of a biomass/PV/wind energy system for independent applications. The objective of the optimum design problem is to minimize the total net present cost (TNPC) of the PV/wind/biomass system during its lifetime subject to some constraints by adjusting three decision variables, namely the swept area of wind turbines, the area of PV panels and the capacity of biogas generators. For this aim, two efficient metaheuristic techniques of GA and PSO are used to solve the optimization problem. Simulation results show that PV/biomass system is the most cost-effective one for supplying the demanded load. Moreover, PSO leads to better results than GA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Scenario planning is a useful approach that helps policymakers to better understand the complexity and uncertainties that lie in the future and to choose the right policy mix to support the development of renewable and affordable energy sources. In this regard, this paper aims to present renewable energy (RE) development scenarios in Iran in the horizon of 2030. Design/methodology/approach: Following the intuitive logic school and the Global Business Network model, the authors identified seven driving forces, according to the expert's judgment, by brainstorming techniques which influence REs development in the horizon of 2030. By prioritizing driving forces based on their importance and uncertainty, "sustainable and green economy" and "emerging technology development" are the most instrumental uncertainties and the authors formed a two-axis scenario matrix with each representing an axis. Findings: The results suggest four main scenarios of "Transition to Sustainability with Green Gold," "Towards Sustainability with Green Gold," "Productivity with Black Gold" and "Desperation with Black Gold." They include a wide range of possible situations of energy basket in the future ranging from dominance of fossil fuels to dominance of REs. The "Productivity with Black Gold" and the "Towards Sustainability with Green Gold" are the most probable scenarios of RE development by 2030 in Iran. Originality/value: This paper indicates that the dominance of oil and gas resources would impede or at least slow down the development of renewable and affordable energy sources. Although the economic and environmental potentials and the inevitability of REs are well-understood, path dependence created by fossil fuels in Iran's energy regime, either partially or fully, hinders the widespread development of REs which is the case in other resource-based countries as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive technical and economic assessment of potential green hydrogen and ammonia production plants in different locations in Iran with strong wind and solar resources. The study was organized in five steps. First, regarding the wind density and solar PV potential data, three locations in Iran were chosen with the highest wind power, solar radiation, and a combination of both wind/solar energy. All these locations are inland spots, but since the produced ammonia is planned to be exported, it must be transported to the export harbor in the South of Iran. For comparison, a base case was also considered next to the export harbor with normal solar and wind potential, but no distance from the export harbor. In the second step, a similar large-scale hydrogen production facility with proton exchange membrane electrolyzers was modeled for all these locations using the HOMER Pro simulation platform. In the next step, the produced hydrogen and the nitrogen obtained from an air separation unit are supplied to a Haber-Bosch process to synthesize ammonia as a hydrogen carrier. Since water electrolysis requires a considerable amount of water with specific quality and because Iran suffers from water scarcity, this paper, unlike many similar research studies, addresses the challenges associated with the water supply system in the hydrogen production process. In this regard, in the fourth step of this study, it is assumed that seawater from the nearest sea is treated in a desalination plant and sent to the site locations. Finally, since this study intends to evaluate the possibility of green hydrogen export from Iran, a detailed piping model for the transportation of water, hydrogen, and ammonia from/to the production site and the export harbor is created in the last step, which considers the real routs using satellite images, and takes into account all pump/compression stations required to transport these media. This study provides a realistic cost of green hydrogen/ammonia production in Iran, which is ready to be exported, considering all related processes involved in the hydrogen supply chain. • The minimum cost of green H2 in Iran was calculated to be between 2.94 and 3.32 USD/kgH 2. • The minimum cost of green NH3 in Iran was obtained between 580 and 641 USD/tNH 3. • H2 transportation via pipelines to the export harbor is the costliest scenario. • More than two-thirds of the cost of NH3 is caused by the power generation system. • Integrating green electricity into the Iranian grid is better than the P2A route. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to report research on the problems faced by novice principals in Iran. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 novice principals, all from elementary schools in Iran. The paper also identifies possible solutions to address the problems through three focus group interviews. The analysis followed the principles of qualitative research. The main findings relate to three aspects: the personal constructions of novice principal problems, professional constructions of novice principal problems, and the possible solutions to help address the problems. The conclusion compares these Iranian findings with international research, showing some common issues but also certain problems that are distinctive to the Iranian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-increasing environmental complexity makes strategizing a difficult multidimensional task. In this paper, we conducted a corporate foresight case study in an SME in packaging industry in Iran. The case study offers a detailed procedure of implementing corporate foresight (CF) and how it can reshape traditional strategic planning. A multimethodological approach was taken in this case study. Once an intraorganizational team in studied company was formed, archival document analysis, PESTEL and weak signal analysis, importance/uncertainty matrix, cross-impact balanced (CIB) analysis, scenario construction, wind tunneling, robust decision-making, and premortem session were used to create foresight intelligence. This paper presents a detailed description of how CF can be linked to conventional strategizing and reshape it. Key variables, driving forces, critical uncertainties, and 4 plausible scenarios are presented. The case study illustrates that as alternative realities challenged the foresight teams ingrained presuppositions, they found the dialectic between "weight of history" and "pull of future" both revelatory and indigestible. The CF intervention illuminated the fragility of preexisting strategic objectives, the implicit optimism bias underlying them, and an overflowing-plate syndrome of formulating too many strategic objectives. Consequently, studied company decided to revisit their strategic objectives, prepare a contingency plan for worst-case scenarios, and begin developing a crisis-ready culture. The comprehensive case study demonstrates how CF can enhance and contradict traditional strategizing, presents a rich know-how of added value of scenarios, and provides some subtleties and complexities of CF interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. As a scientific field, bioinformatics has drawn remarkable attention from various fields, such as information technology, mathematics, and modern biological sciences, in recent years. The topic models originating from the field of natural language processing have become the focus of attention with the rapid accumulation of biological datasets. Thus, this research is aimed at modeling the topic content of the bioinformatics literature presented by Iranian researchers in the Scopus Citation Database. Methodology. This research was a descriptive-exploratory study, and the studied population included 3899 papers indexed in the Scopus database, which had been indexed in this database until March 9, 2022. The topic modeling was then performed on the abstracts and titles of the papers. A combination of LDA and TF-IDF was utilized for topic modeling. Findings. The data analysis with topic modeling resulted in identifying seven main topics "Molecular Modeling," "Gene Expression," "Biomarker," "Coronavirus," "Immunoinformatics," "Cancer Bioinformatics," and "Systems Biology." Moreover, "Systems Biology" and "Coronavirus" had the largest and smallest clusters, respectively. Conclusion. The present investigation demonstrated an acceptable performance for the LDA algorithm in classifying the topics included in this field. The extracted topic clusters indicated excellent consistency and topic connection with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses two questions: first, that of the nature of multiple religious identities in a traditional society; second, that of who can be identified as Bahā'īs in the upper echelons of Qājār Iran. The paper identifies five criteria by which individuals can be identified as having been Bahā'īs and suggests that, since none of these are usually conclusive by themselves, more than one of the criteria should be fulfilled before we label someone as a Bahā'ī. The various grades of being a Bahā'ī are also examined. The paper lists a number of examples of people from the Qājār royal family and from among the highest echelons of the Qājār administration who fulfill these criteria. It also looks at two individuals who have not been claimed to be Bahā'īs in the usual Iranian and Bahā'ī histories, and yet, if a close study of their lives is made, considerable evidence can be accumulated that they may have been crypto-Bahā'īs. In all, this paper indicates that there may have been many Bahā'īs in the upper strata of Qājār society, that this is a factor that has not previously been sufficiently recognized and needs to be examined for the light that it may shed on other matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forced branding, tattooing, and bodily inscriptions were linked to a complex intersection of meanings and uses in nineteenth-century Iran. Drawing on insights from studies of bodily inscriptions in other world historical contexts, this paper discusses branding as a marker of ownership, both of human slaves and of animals; Islamic attitudes toward bodily inscription and its symbolic significance in the afterlife; and associations between branding and human or divine love in Persian poetry. From this semiotic foundation, it turns to judicial uses of branding in nineteenth-century Iran: as torture for the extraction of incriminating admissions, and as punishment intended to shame (symbolically casting the criminal from society, stigmatizing their crime) and identify (tracking convicted criminals). Throughout the paper, branding's legal place is understood in relation to silence and speaking, writing and reading, pain, humiliation, and the inversion of branding's meaning by its victims, in Iran and a number of other societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The study aimed at evaluating the effect of posture correction and stretching movements on lordosis and lumbar pain in pregnant women. Background: An increased lumbar lordosis during pregnancy is considered one of the most common causes of lumbar pain. Methods: This quasi‐experimental study was performed on 66 pregnant women referred to health centers in Tabriz, Iran, from November 2020 to June 2021. The participants were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The intervention group received training of posture correction movements and stretching exercises during pregnancy from 16 to 18 to 35–37 weeks of pregnancy in six sessions for 45–60 min. The data were collected using a flexible ruler and a visual analog scale. Independent t‐tests, repeated measures ANOVA, and ANCOVA tests were used. Results: The mean (standard deviation: SD) of lumbar lordosis increased from 45.12 (2.07) to 54.97 (2.20) in the intervention group at 35–37 weeks and changed from 44.28 (2.03) to 55.54 (3.39) in the control group at 35–37 weeks (adjusted mean difference: −1.24, 95% confidence interval: −2.48 to −0.005, P = 0.04). The mean (SD) of lumbar pain at 28–30 weeks was 2.80 (1.72) in the intervention group and 3.74 (2.23) in the control group (P = 0.09). However, the mean (SD) of lumbar pain at 35–37 weeks in the intervention group 4.38 (2.45) was significantly lower than that in the control group 5.83 (2.96) (P = 0.04). Conclusion: This study provides evidence for the potential health benefits of training posture correction and stretching movements on controlling lumbar lordosis and reducing lumbar pain during pregnancy. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? One of the most common causes of low back pain refers to the enhancement of lumbar lordosis.The standard corrective movements and stretching exercises approved during pregnancy increase muscular strength and reduce the severity of lordosis if they are done regularly. What this paper adds? This is the first study that investigates the impact of a childbirth preparation program including posture correction and stretching movements on lordosis and lumbar pain in pregnant women.The findings indicate that the posture correction movements and stretching exercises delivered in childbirth preparation classes are effective in controlling the enhancement of lumbar lordosis during pregnancy and reducing lumbar pain. The implications of this paper: Training of posture correction and stretching movements during pregnancy is recommended for all pregnant women with no contraindication to exercise during pregnancy and even for women with a history of caesarean section who may decline to participate in the preparation classes for physiological birth.Evidence‐based posture correction/exercise guidelines during pregnancy should be developed and embedded in prenatal care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identification of petrophysical parameters including porosity plays an important role to evaluate hydrocarbon reservoirs. A precise prediction of porosity in oil and gas reservoirs may prevent lots of costs before drilling operations. Porosity obtained from core analysis in laboratory is the most reliable one, while they are very expensive and not always accessible. Inappropriate or missing data in under-survey locations are a key challenge for reservoir engineers. In this paper, support vector regression (SVR) is used to estimate porosity in one of the oil fields in south of Iran. SVR creates models due to structural risk minimization methods which help us to produce models with better generalization and less risk of overfitting. Definitely, measured data are always contaminated with noise. One of the common methods to reduce noise and outliers in data is to process them before using them to train the algorithm; during processing, outliers and some noisy data can be suppressed from data, while it is not always easy to distinguish real data from noise. In this paper, we modified SVR to Fuzzy SVR and Fuzzy C Means (FCM) SVR, which are used to decrease effect of noise on model, and then by adding artificial noise including random noise and outliers to data we investigated how these two methods respond to presence of noise. The results show the presence of noise and outliers in data can alter the center locations and distribution of data points in clusters in FCM SVR. Similarly, it can change the variance of Gaussian membership function we used for Fuzzy SVR, but overall, the results show Fuzzy SVR model is notably more robust against noise compared to FCM SVR. Correlation coefficient (CC) calculated between model and core data decreased from 78 to 67% after noise added to data in FCM SVR model, however, calculated CC for Fuzzy SVR remained almost steady altering from 87 to 86%. Subsequently, calculated root mean square error (RMSE) between models and core data increased from 0.0376 to 0.03827 for Fuzzy SVR, while RMSE jumped from 0.0448 to 0.0517 for FCM SVR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid growth of social media, textual content is increasingly growing. Unstructured texts are a rich source of latent spatial information. Extracting such information is useful in query processing, geographical information retrieval (GIR), and recommender systems. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to infer spatial information from salient features of non-spatial nature in text corpora. We propose two methods, namely DCS and RCS, to represent place-based concepts. In addition, two measures, namely the Shannon entropy and the Moran's I, are proposed to calculate the degree of geo-indicativeness of terms in texts. The methodology is compared with a Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) approach to estimate the accuracy improvement. We evaluated the methods on a dataset of rental property advertisements in Iran and a dataset of Persian Wikipedia articles. The results show that our proposed approach enhances the relative accuracy of predictions by about 10% in case of the renting advertisements and by 13% in case of the Wikipedia articles. The average distance error is about 13.3 km for the advertisements and 10.3 km for the Wikipedia articles, making the method suitable to infer the general region of the city in which a property is located. The proposed methodology is promising for inferring spatial knowledge from textual content that lacks spatial terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Following the COVID-19 outbreak, there are concerns whether economies are becoming farther from equality and competency. While this matters to every economy, it is more crucial for developing ones who already suffer from income inequalities and lack of competency. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses an administrative data from the Iran's Social Security Organization (ISSO) that provides insurance to workers entitled to the Labor Law of Iran. The data contain more than 7,000,000 workers. The authors assess heterogeneous impact of the first wave of the pandemic by firms' size and average payment. Findings: The authors' estimation results indicate that, following the initiation of the pandemic, the workers whose corresponding firms are smaller, overall, are more prone to the pandemic and are more likely to submit a request for unemployment benefits. However, the relation is neither homogeneous across sectors nor linear among micro-sized firms. Few sectors indicate a positive relationship between size and likelihood of request submission, including cultural activity, shoemaking and clothing sectors. Besides the size, the authors investigate whether pay grades could explain the probability of becoming unemployed after the pandemic. Results show that workers whose corresponding firms pay less are more likely to submit a request. This is robust within different sectors. Research limitations/implications: The ISSO dataset is not a panel, so the authors cannot employ methods of causal inferences. The authors' results should be seen as correlation; however, due to exogeneity and sharpness of the pandemic the result infers to some degree of causality. The data does not cover the informal sector, so the estimates are at lower boundary. Originality/value: Administrative data on unemployment benefits during COVID-19 show that the pandemic interferes with competition by forcing low-paid workers and small firms to exit the market. This is an alarm for the competition in every economy, specially developing ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, to study the frequency and severity of traffic accidents, a combination of geographic information system and spatial analysis has been used. For this purpose, methods of planar and network statistics including kernel density estimation and nearest neighbor distance analysis were applied for three types of accidents including fatal, injury, and material property damages. In addition, drawbacks of the traditional planar point pattern and the benefits of network analysis are offered. The network statistics are executed through SANET version 4 and ArcMap on the Semnan–Garmsar road in Iran. The nearest neighbor output analysis is consist of four curves, and regarding the fact that the amounts for accidents resulting in fatalities, injuries, and damages, the observed value curve is above the 5% confidence interval; accidents in the study region are more clustered than would be expected by random chance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sufism has played a critical role, particularly in the past millennium, as one of the most significant cultural components in the history of Iran. And approximately all cultural factors, including arts, politics, economics, and the educational and training system, have been directly and indirectly influenced by the Sufi culture. One such factor is music, which has been uninterruptedly intertwined with Sufism for years. The present paper strives to investigate the extent to which and the ways in which Sufism has influenced contemporary Iranian music. The answer to this research inquiry is crucial for understanding the impacts of Sufism in the contemporary era and dissecting Iranian music, most specifically the Persian modal system (dastgāh). Despite the significant factors that contribute to the Persian musical system, the literature on the topic remains scarce. This research uses historical and research analysis, as well as the results of a field study conducted over the past two decades in the educational atmosphere of the Iranian musical system, to answer the research questions. The findings suggest that contemporary Iranian music has derived considerable influence from Sufi subjects, concepts, and teachings, and evolved thereafter, with dramatic impacts in two epochs: (1) throughout the thirties and forties HS; and (2) in the wake of the Islamic revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines, how the reformist attempts of some Iranian religious intellectuals—consciously or unconsciously—lead to the desacralization of Islamic concepts, using the Iranian jurist and activist Seddigha Wasmaghi as an example. The reformists are, as will be shown with reference to Wasmaghi, concerned with establishing that the normative as well as the theological assumptions in Islam are results of human cognition. Any idea that is qualified as a human assumption, i.e., not sacred and thus open to challenge, can be critically examined, re-read, and perhaps even changed or overruled. Such approaches include, for example, Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari's understanding of the Qurʾan as a 'prophetic reading of the world' and ʿAbdolkarim Sorush's interpretation of revelation as 'prophet's dreams'. Among the most recent attempts of this kind is Seddigha Wasmaghi's perception of 'prophecy as a human construction'. This argument is presented and critically analyzed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Women's fertility is affected by polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) as an endocrine disorder with characteristic symptoms such as insulin resistance, polycystic ovaries, menstrual irregularities, and obesity. In polycystic ovarian syndrome, the vitamin D endocrine system is regulated by the vitamin D receptor (VDR) associated with type II diabetes, endocrine dysfunctions, and insulin resistance. Therefore, the current paper deals with the investigation of the connection between Cdx2 VDR gene polymorphism and the biochemical factors in obese PCOS women. Material and methods In the current case--control study, 40 obese women without PCOS and 38 obese women with PCOS were enrolled in May--September 2016. Insulin, IGF1, FBS, and HOMA-IR were examined for the participants along with the allelic and genotypic frequency of Cdx2 polymorphism G/A (rs11568820) from Isfahan Fertility and Infertility Center, Iran. The ASM-PCR (multiplex allele-specific PCR) technique was utilized in this regard. Results The age of PCOS women was less (P < 0.001) than the controls. In PCOS women, insulin, FBS, and HOMA-IR serum levels were higher than in the control women (all P values 0.05). For GG, AG, AA,A, and G Cdx2(A/G) genotypic/ allelic frequencies were 84.2%, 15.8%, 0%, 7.9%, and 92.1% in cases and 87.5%, 12.5%, 0%, 6.3%, and 93.8% in controls, respectively. HOMA-IR (P = 0.047 and P = 0.033, respectively) and insulin than those with the AG genotype were in PCOS women with the GG Cdx2 genotype. The highest IGF-1 mean value (P = 0.020) was found for the AG genotype in PCOS. In our study, a significant relation was found only between PCOS and FBS, in terms of a logistic regression analysis of Cdx2 and parameters. Conclusion In the present study, it was indicated that the GG genotype in PCOS subjects was associated with the IGF-1, HOMA-IR, and insulin. Similarly, no association was found between obese PCOS patients and Cdx2 in the 1a promoter area of the VDR gene in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the world's most pressing needs today is access to groundwater. Although hydrological parameters can generally be estimated using underground studies, these methods are time-consuming and expensive. By taking the direct relationship of these parameters with electrical resistivity and measuring it with a cheaper and faster geoelectric method, a qualitative estimate of these parameters will be obtained. The electrical resistivity method is one of the most widely used methods to probe aquifers. The main objective of this paper is to show how, by interpreting and modeling the data of this exploratory method along with other geological information, the hydrogeological modeling of groundwater reservoirs can be done, and then, with an informed vision, the wells can be drilled for exploitation. For this purpose, the electrical resistivity data at 189 points and 9 profiles in the Shahroud region with Schlumberger array, after reviewing and making some modifications, were subjected to one-dimensional inverse modeling. According to the peripheral vision, the electrode distance was considered to be 50 meters and the length of the profiles is different. The longest profile was 1000 meter and related to profile 3. Then, using the results of modeling along with other available information, the hydrogeological models of the area were prepared in the form of iso-resistivity contour map and interpreted in terms of resistivity and thickness of subsurface layer using computer software Geographic Information System (GIS). Similarly, the thickness map of the aquifer unit (s) was also prepared to classify the good and poor zones. Using the prepared models and also considering the direction and piezometric of the groundwater flow inside the aquifer, suitable places were identified and suggested for future exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a feminist approach to geography to critique the theory of 'open city' proposed by Richard Sennett in his 2018 book, Building and Dwelling, which suggests a series of design interventions that when applied to cities can lead to an increase in sociability, complexity and tolerance of difference. Tehran is employed as a case study to examine whether open city theory is yet another Western formulation that is only applicable in democratic contexts. Considering Tehran's top-down, oppressive, and authoritarian setting, it is seen here as a context in which the closedness and lack of active urban life in its streets and other public places are not only the result of architectural and planning schemes inherited from the 'functional city', as open city theory suggests, but instead are the result of rigid, top-down control mechanisms applied by the authorities. Therefore, based on feminist critical approaches such as meaning-in-context, and considering the discriminatory politics faced by women in their use of and access to public spaces in Iran, I challenge open city theory by suggesting that closedness, and its opposite, openness, are terms too charged with a Western sense of urbanisation. Instead, by examining the meaning, practicality and temporality of some of Sennett's design interventions in Tehran, I suggest other potential ways that openness might occur; not through design, however, but among people and the solutions they find to overcome closedness in this city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abdolkarim Soroush's theory of 'The Theoretical Contraction and Expansion of Religious Knowledge' is arguably one of the most controversial theories of religion in post-revolutionary Iran. Soroush's theory paves the way for recognising a pluralist interpretation of religion (Islam) by merging the epistemological and hermeneutical theory of religion. However, he later adds another approach to his reformist framework to explain the phenomenon of revelation. In this paper, after carefully laying out Soroush's contraction and expansion theory, I will discuss his three approaches, that is, epistemological, hermeneutical and phenomenological approaches to religion, through presenting Kantian and Quinian interpretations of contraction and expansion of religious knowledge, addressing the epistemology of contraction and expansion and the phenomenology of revelation, and pointing out some issues about error recognition within contraction and expansion of religious knowledge. I argue that the role of error recognition is crucial in understanding Soroush's reformist project since it links his epistemology and hermeneutics of religious knowledge to the way he theorises about revelation phenomenologically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an integrated workflow based on recent geoscience data is presented for assessing the reservoir characterization and structural interpretation of the Burgan formation, a highly productive formation in the Abadan plain, SW Iran. Utilizing newly acquired high-resolution SEM images, we evaluated the pore size, pore distribution, and pore aspect ratio of Burgan formation. The watershed segmentation algorithm is also capable of detecting throats and closed pores. The porosity fractions from SEM images are used for calibration of the porosity log at several well locations in order to perform petrophysical modeling. Due to the complexity of facies behavior in the study area, we utilized supervised Bayesian classifiers using P-wave velocity, density, and facies log data in order to incorporate spatial dependence into the model. The confusing matrix and machine learning metrics including Accuracy (97.01%), Precision (93.88%), F1 Score (94.16%), and False Positive Rate (2.52%), indicate that the classifier has been properly trained at well locations. A reasonable match is evident between the modeled petrophysical parameters and the true (core) porosity and water saturation at the location of the test well. Furthermore, we have demonstrated the validity of assumptions concerning the dominance of extensional structure in the Abadan plain by using interpreted seismic data. The presented workflow can be used to optimize drilling operations and reduce risks in similar geological settings in the studied formation. Highlights: • The vital pore properties have been evaluated using newly obtained SEM images. • Bayesian classification is a reliable classifier for complex facies modeling. • The dominant extensional structure can be observed in the Abadan plain. • The watershed segmentation algorithm can detect closed pores and throats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we draw on cultural cisgenderism to analyse the sporting experiences of trans men in Iran. Utilising semi-structured interviews with twelve trans men in different stages of transition, we consider their experiences of women's sport environments, the extent to which cisnormativity is embedded into the culture, and whether their gender identities are accepted. We found that essentialist understandings of sex and gender are evident in sport environments, with gender presentation policed by others, and expectations this should align with ascribed biological sex. While some interviewees' masculine expressions were valued, others were considered 'too masculine' to be eligible to participate in women's sport spaces; this led to restrictions around appearance and clothing, alongside instances of compulsory hormone testing. Finally, for those who were 'out' about their gender identity, this often led to hostility from others, including coaches, teammates, and spectators. Overall, this paper provides a critical understanding of trans inclusion in sport spaces in Iran. However, the findings may be useful for anyone working to make sport more accessible, regardless of geographical location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By accurate predicting of pipe bursts, it is possible to schedule pipe maintenance, rehabilitation and improve level of services in Water Distribution Networks (WDNs). In recent years, artificial intelligence techniques have been used vastly in pipe burst prediction. These techniques need big input dataset for deep learning but big dataset might not be available in old WDNs. This paper aimed to compare the performance of multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) and regressive convolution neural network with least square support vector regression (RCNN-LSSVR) for predicting of Pipe Burst Rate (PBR) with limited dataset. Pipes age, diameter, depth of installation, length, average and maximum hydraulic pressure are considered as effective parameters of PBR. Data collected from real-case study in Iran include 158 cases for polyethylene and 124 cases for asbestos cement pipes during 2012–2019. The results indicate that RCNN-LSSVR model has a great performance of PBR prediction on limited dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Ambiguity arises when more than one meaning and concept can be understood from a word, phrase or sentence. Since it seems necessary to understand this by the information retrieval system in order to increase the accuracy of the information retrieval system and increase the retrieval of related resources, the present research aims to identify the ambiguous and disambiguating factors through a systematic review of studies. It has been done in Iran. Methodology: The research method is applied in terms of purpose, in terms of approach, qualitative and in terms of information gathering method, systematic review using PRISMA standard. The statistical population includes journal articles, conferences, and dissertations indexed in Iranian databases, including: Magiran, Noormags, Shiraz Regional Center for Science and Technology, Civilica, and Academic Jihad Center (SID) and Scientific Information of Iran (treasure). 175 scientific sources and 138 scientific sources were excluded based on the output criteria and 37 scientific sources were selected based on the input criteria. Input criteria: focusing on the studies conducted on the subject of ambiguity and disambiguation, in the fields of linguistics, information technology, artificial intelligence, computer and information science, and epistemology, scientific sources published in Persian language, without publication time limits, review articles, Scientific research, master's and doctorate theses and national and international conference papers held inside Iran. Output criteria: studies carried out except for ambiguity and disambiguation, non-Persian language scientific sources, books, reports, editorials, abstract writings and short articles (less than 5 pages). Findings: The results show that the main topic of interest in this research was "ambiguity of the meaning of words" (53%) and "disambiguation of words" (44%) and the least topics of ambiguity in machine translation (21%) and disambiguation through ontology (5 percent). The most research methods with the "neural network" approach (22 percent) and the least research methods used were content analysis, methodology and machine learning (5 percent), the largest number of sources related to the articles of conferences and national conferences and was international (48 percent) and the least were master theses and doctoral dissertations (5 percent). Computer and linguistics fields (27 percent) have had the most scientific productions in this regard, and information science and epistemology fields (9 percent) have had the lowest productions. Conclusion: The present research is considered innovative in the sense that it deals with the issue of ambiguity and disambiguation in information retrieval with a systematic review approach. Its findings indicate that most Iranian researches were focused on disambiguation, which were mostly presented in national and international conferences and meetings. The topic of ambiguity and disambiguation is more important in the fields of computer science and linguistics, and the fields of information science and epistemology have not dealt with it. The semantic ambiguity of words and, by nature, the disambiguation of words has been the concern of format in Iranian researches. Ontology as a new approach to disambiguation has received less attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of stations network is not uniform in Iran. The number of stations is more in densely populated areas and less around a large part of the central areas of Iran. Also, these stations have been operating for various periods. Therefore, in situ observation cannot lead to robust results and conclusions for the climate model evaluation and climate change studies. In recent years, reanalysis products have been considered as pseudo-observations, especially for climate studies and weather forecasting. The evaluation of reanalysis products is fundamental and critical because of the uncertainty due to the interpolation and to the data assimilation and forecasting models. In this paper, the reanalysis data of CFS-v2, MERRA-2, and ERA-5 climate databases are evaluated, using the data of 143 meteorological stations over the period 1991-2020. Reanalysis data are compared using Pearson's correlation coefficient (R), root mean square error (RMSE), normalized mean square error (NRMSE), Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (NSC), bias index (BIAS), mean absolute error (MAE) and Kling-Gupta efficient (KGE), in the 6 regions representative of climate diversity in Iran. Also, the seasonal accuracy, annual trend, and probability distribution of the reanalyzed data were analyzed in comparison with the observations. The results show that CFS-v2, MERRA-2, and ERA-5 have high accuracy for estimating the temperature in Iran. In general, based on all statistical indicators and in all regions, ERA-5 is the most accurate; MERRA-2 and CFS-v2 were ranked second and third, with MAE values of 1.39, 1.71, and 2.077, respectively. In the spring, for the hot cluster (southwest), CFS-v2 data; in the summer, for the hot (southwest) and very cold (northwest) clusters, MERAA-2 data; and in autumn and winter, for the warm coastal cluster (coasts of Oman Sea and Persian Gulf), MERAA-2 data; are most accurate. In terms of annual trends, in the very cold cluster (northwest), CFS-v2 data; in the hot cluster (southwest), MERRA-2 data; and in other places, the data of ERA-5 have the closest trend to the trend of observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Today, the Internet provides access to many patients' experiences, which is crucial in assessing the quality of healthcare services. This paper introduces a model for detecting cancer patients' opinions about healthcare services in the Persian language, both positive and negative. Method: To achieve the objectives of this study, a combination of sentiment analysis (SA) and topic modeling approaches was employed. All pertinent comments made by cancer patients were collected from the patient feedback form of the Tehran University of Medical Science (TUMS) Cancer Institute (CI) in Iran, from March to October 2021. Conventional evaluation metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, and F-measure were utilized to assess the performance of the proposed model. Result: The experimental findings revealed that the proposed SA model achieved accuracies of 89.3%, 92.6%, and 90.8% in detecting patients' sentiments towards general services, healthcare services, and life expectancy, respectively. Based on the topic modeling results, the topic "Metastasis" exhibited lower sentiment scores compared to other topics. Additionally, cancer patients expressed dissatisfaction with the current appointment booking service, while topics such as "Good experience," "Affable staff", and "Chemotherapy" garnered higher sentiment scores. Conclusion: The combined use of SA and topic modeling offers valuable insights into healthcare services. Policymakers can utilize the knowledge obtained from these topics and associated sentiments to enhance patient satisfaction with cancer institution services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic policies for managing agricultural water use are often complicated by the challenge of using water prices as an efficient economic tool when other non-economic concerns are involved in the decision-making process. This study aims to analyse the impact of water pricing policies on preserving agricultural water resources in Iran. This study applies a system dynamics approach to simulate the system performance and behaviour of stakeholders and the economic implications. Our finding shows that water pricing policies will likely fail due to low water price elasticity and if there are lack of institutional and physical infrastructure, alternative professions, manufacturing technology, education, and training opportunities. The results also illustrate how agricultural water price increase (AWPI) fails to reduce water consumption in the absence of an adequate institutional arrangement. Also, it shows how the lack of advanced institutional infrastructure in the presence of physical infrastructure enhances pervasive overuse and destructive competition among stakeholders by increasing the area under cultivation. In the discussion, the paper portrays a way out of the decision-making body by following AWPI effects on water conservation in the agricultural sector as the most significant water consumer. It investigates the absence and subsequent presence of specific institutional conditions and evaluates training and enhancing farmers' skills and alternative career source with higher income and technology as the architecture of good environmental governance. Finally, it concludes that a series of inclusive measures must be considered to increase the elasticity of the water price. These measures must stimulate farmers towards pursuing the goals of global sustainable development and enhancing social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a realistic analysis of a region using Grounded Theory (GT) to provide a sustainable model for family farming systems based on the intercropping system in rural communities of Iran. Furthermore, the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) was applied to assign weights to the criteria and sub-criteria of intercropping and monocropping systems. According to the model, the main phenomenon was "sustainability in the family farming system based on intercropping". In this model, the causal factors were found to include behavioral and attitudinal motivators. Micro- and macro-factors were identified as the interfering factors in family farming systems based on intercropping. Social factors, economic components, and environmental potentials were the contextual factors of this system. Finally, the consequences included the conceptual development and evolution of sustainability, socioeconomic transformation, and ecological-environmental transformation. The results of FAHP showed that the environmental criterion was ranked the first among all criteria underpinning the sustainability of the intercropping system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing microplastic pollution in the marine environment has raised global concern. The main risk of microplastics in aquatic ecosystem is their bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms. A few studies have reported microplastic pollution in the digestive system of Caspian Sea fish species, but there is no research on sturgeon species, nor on fish gills. We investigated the occurrence of microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and gills of 62 specimens belonging to four species including three teleosts (Cyprinus carpio, Rutilus kutum, and Chelon aurata) and one sturgeon (Acipenser persicus, a valuable endangered species) from the Caspian Sea between January and March 2022. Fish tissues were removed, exposed for 24 h to 10% KOH, and then dried on filter paper. Particles were observed under a stereomicroscope and analyzed by Raman microspectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, and energy‐dispersive spectroscopy. A total of 91 microplastics were detected in the GIT (average of 1.46 ± 1.17 items/individual) and 63 microplastics in the gills (average of 1.01 ± 0.62 items/individual). A significant correlation was not found between the number of microplastics found in both tissues and fish body length, body weight, GIT weight, and gill weight (p > 0.05), except between microplastics isolated from gills and gill weight in C. carpio (rs = 0.707, p = 0.022). The abundance of microplastics in fish followed the order of A. persicus > C. aurata > R. kutum > C. carpio. The microplastics were in the size range of 45 to 5000 µm, with particles of 300 to 1000 µm being the most prevalent; 74.68% of the particles were shaped like fibers, 30.53% were red, and 70.6% were composed of nylon polymer. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:2453–2465. © 2023 SETAC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the great Persian Empire, pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) had a wide reputation for use both as an herbal medicine and nutritious food. It was also a symbol of peace and love according to Achaemenid limestones in the great Persia. This paper aims to review the traditional uses of pomegranate in Persian and Islamic traditional medicine and have thorough and current information regarding the pharmacology and phytochemistry of this valuable plant for practical use and further research. Relevant information about P. granatum was collected from scientific publishers and databases including Elsevier, Wiley, PubMed, and Google Scholar between 1950 and 2022. The traditional knowledge was extracted from Persian and Islamic traditional textbooks. Based on traditional textbooks, pomegranate has beneficial effects on diseases related to gastrointestinal, upper and lower respiratory, visual, and reproductive systems. In addition, pomegranate and its preparations have been prescribed for treating metabolic disorders, skin problems, and wounds as well as dental protection. Preclinical and clinical evidence supports many therapeutic potentials of pomegranate in traditional medicine. Its therapeutic effects are mostly attributed to its polyphenols. The knowledge in Persian and Islamic traditional textbooks about pomegranate and its preparations can be used as a guide for further preclinical and mainly clinical studies to discover the therapeutic potential of this valuable plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deconstructs the ways the image of Fāṭima Zarrīn-Tāj Baraghānī, known as Tahirih Qurrat al-ʿAyn (d. 1852), has been distorted in academic works and in anti-Bahā'ī polemics. The misrepresentations of Tahirih in these works range from disconnecting her from the source of her inspiration, to accusations of immorality, to denying her knowledge, to denying her poetry, to depicting her as a militant figure. It is suggested that misogyny, religious prejudice, selective as well as uncritical use of primary sources, and agenda driven scholarship explain the misrepresentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]