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The pretest-posttest control group design is one of the most widely used quantitative experimental design models for evaluating the efficacy of programs, treatments, and interventions. Despite the prevalence and utility of this research design, best practices for data analytical procedures are not clearly defined. Invalid results decrease the chance of generalization. Given that Iranian Journals are interested in publishing pretestposttest control group design studies, it is important to denote the accuracy of them. The aim of the current study is to explore the correct procedure for using ANCOVA in pretest-posttest control group designs to mitigate the potential limitations of this approach. This study explores the use of ANCOVA in pretest-posttest control group design. It has been done by analyzing data from experimental studies published in five Iranian journals indexed in PubMed or Scopus between 2011 and 2018. The results indicate that among the 280 published experimental studies in these journals, 53 papers (18.9 percent) used ANCOVA as the statistical test in pretest-posttest studies. The power of the test represents the probability of detecting differences between the groups being compared when such differences exist. Our analysis concludes that ANCOVA, which runs a multiple linear regression, is a suitable method for comparing and examining pretest-posttest study designs. Implications of this study have potential utility for researchers employing the use of pretest-posttest control group designs in various fields in and outside of Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Anopheles stephensi is a major vector of malaria in some parts of the world. A standard method for determining resistance in adult mosquito populations is the bioassay test recommended by the world health organization (WHO). The papers used in this method have an expiry date. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of outdated susceptibility test papers for use in insecticide resistance monitoring programs. Methods: Beech and Bandar Abbas strains of An. stephensi were reared in the insectary. Permethrin 0.75%, Deltamethrin 0.05%, and Bendiocarb 0.1% impregnated test papers prepared by Universiti Sains Malaysia were used. Probit analysis was used to analyze the results and prepare time-mortality regression lines of LT50 and LT90. Results: There was a difference in the mortality of both tested strains of An. stephensi was exposed to all tested insecticides. Both expired and not expired Permethrin and Deltamethrin papers induced 100% mortality at the diagnostic time (60min), but their insecticidal properties were reduced gradually in serial times. The highest efficacy of test papers was in the first trimester after the expiry date and decreased over time. Conclusion: At the diagnostic time of 60 minutes, the mortality rate of both dated and expired papers was 100% in the pyrethroid insecticides, even three years after expiry dates, if stored in the package provided by the producer, in a refrigerator. This value was reduced to less than 100% in the expired papers of Bendiocarb comparing the dated papers that induced 100% mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to analyze the top papers from Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries covered in the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database during 2010-2019. The findings of the study showed that 41 out of 57 OIC member states have published 7,369 highly cited papers and 249 hot papers. The leading countries based on the overall top papers produced were Saudi Arabia, followed by Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan and Egypt. Iran was ranked first in terms of hot papers. When analysed by document type, all of the top papers were articles and published in the English language. The Lancet ranks among the top in terms of publishing OIC member countries' top papers, showing that it has a great academic influence producing highly cited papers and hot papers. The top five organizations producing top papers are all top universities in their country and they are also ranked globally. King Abdulaziz University contributed the most for both highly cited papers and hot papers. NANOFLUID was the most common keyword and core subject in highly cited papers, and the keyword MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES was the core subject identified in hot papers. Cluster 1 is the largest subject cluster of highly cited papers with the topic Nanotechnology and it is also the largest cluster of hot papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) can play a vital role in decreasing morbidity and mortality. Due to the increasing development of electronic systems, their use can be effective in improving the quality of services and reducing costs. This study aimed to assess the satisfaction of EMTs with electronic forms. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 99 EMTs in Rasht City, Iran. Data was collected via a questionnaire, including demographic characteristics (age, sex, work experience, type of employment, level of education, field of study, and retraining course) and 17 questions about the satisfaction of personnel in using electronic forms. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were assessed by 7 emergency medicine specialists via a pilot study. The questionnaire had a Likert scale to respond with Cronbach's alpha of 0.83. Data were analyzed using SPSS software v. 22. Results: The Mean±SD age of participants was 36.08±0.73 years. Most of them had a bachelor's degree (71.7%), contractual employment (40.4%), and Bachelor of Science (BSc) in nursing (46.5%) or emergency technician (42.4%). Their average work experience was 10.45±0.69 years. The level of satisfaction of most EMTs (65.7%) in using the electronic form was moderate, which statistically had a significant relationship with their employment status (P<05). Conclusion: According to the average satisfaction of EMTs in using electronic forms, it is necessary to increase the level of use and satisfaction of electronic forms by holding appropriate retraining programs on how to use and benefits of electronic forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scrapbook compiled between 1660 and 1687 by Gesina ter Borch (1631–1690), a female artist from the small town of Zwolle in the Netherlands, contains an intriguing painting on paper of a full-length portrait of a young Iranian. Although the figure wears the attributes in vogue at the Safavid court of Isfahan, certain elements seem rather incongruous and peculiar. The general composition appears static and rigid, an impression reinforced by an unusual black painted background. Stylistic differences within the painting were also observed, hinting at alterations to the original painting. To investigate the history of the painting and to reconstruct the original composition and identify the later additions, perhaps made by Gesina herself, the painting was examined with different imaging and analytic techniques available at the Conservation and Science Department of the Rijksmuseum. This allowed the research team to discriminate between pigments used for the original composition and pigments used to conceal damaged areas of the painting and added pictorial elements. After interpreting scientific results, as well as historical findings, it was possible to shed light on the use of specific pigments, namely lead white and smalt, and on the possible misinterpretation of some details, such as the cup held by the young man. The results of macro X-ray fluorescence scanning (MA-XRF) and lead isotope analysis, viewed in the light of information about the economic and cultural exchanges between Iran and the Netherlands in the seventeenth century, fed new theories about the origin and history of this painting. The painting, originally made in Iran in the style of Riza Abbasi, the head of the Emperor Shah Abbas' library, ended up in Gesina ter Borch's workshop and may have been 'restored' by the artist to improve its condition and to match her tastes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hospitals, as the most important medical institutions, must be adequately prepared before accidents to cope with emergencies and provide rapid response to disasters. This study aimed to determine the preparedness of hospitals in Ardabil Province during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional study, and the study population included all hospitals in Ardabil Province, Iran (17 hospitals in total). The data collection tool was a standard checklist of 92 questions for COVID-19 Crisis Preparedness issued by the Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (the Pearson correlation analysis) in SPSS software v. 22. Results: The mean relative score of preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic was 80.27% among the hospitals in the province. In the studied hospitals, the relative scores of preparedness were as follows: leadership and coordination, 92.64%, resource management, 94.36%; information management, 79.90%; communications, 77.94%; human resources, 77.69%; surge-capacity, 86.55%; rapid identification, 57.18%; diagnosis, 71.32%; isolation and patient management, 81.09%; and infection prevention and control, 84.05%. Conclusion: The level of hospital preparedness in most dimensions (9 out of 10 dimensions) was good, and only in the area of rapid identification was at a moderate level. However, further evaluation is needed at different stages of an epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prehospital emergency staff usually encounter patients in situations that can affect the mental health of the medical staff and cause symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. This study aimed to determine depression, anxiety, and stress in prehospital emergency personnel during the COVID-19 epidemic in Ardabil City, Iran, 2020. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2020 to April 2020 with the participation of 138 working staff in the prehospital emergency department of Ardabil City. The samples were selected by the census method. Necessary information was collected with a two-part questionnaire: a demographic questionnaire and the DASS-21 standard questionnaire. DASS-21 is a 21-item questionnaire that consists of three subscales of 7 questions: depression, anxiety, and stress. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, and inferential analysis, including analysis of variance, independent t test, and multiple regression using SPSS software v. 22 statistical software. Results: The results showed that 45.7% of the staff had moderate depression, 44.9% moderate anxiety, and 77.5% normal stress. There was a significant relationship between work experience and stress level (P=0.03). There were significant associations between age with depression (P=0.04), anxiety (P=0.00) and stress (P=0.01). There was also a significant relationship between gender and variables of stress (P=0.00) and anxiety (P=0.01). Multiple regression results showed that gender and education variables are predictors of anxiety and stress, and age and education variables are predictors of depression (P<0.05). Conclusion: More than half of the staff had moderate to severe depression and anxiety. Considering that prehospital emergency personnel has a vital role in improving and promoting people’s health in the community, eliminating the underlying factors that cause emotional reactions in them is considered a health priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B ackground: According to the World Health Organization, preventive measures are the o nly non-pharmacological method to combat the COVID-19 epidemic. This study aimed t o investigate the relationship between perceived social support and preventive behaviors mediated by the variables of life expectancy and mental wellbeing. Materials and Methods: This study is applied in terms of purpose and was conducted by survey method. The statistical population included women living in Tehran City, Iran, with a sample size of 428. The study data were collected using the preventive behavior scale, mental wellbeing scale, Snyder hope scale, and multidimensional perceived social support scale. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS 25 and AMOS 23 software. Results: The study results showed a positive and significant relationship between perceived social support and mental wellbeing, between perceived social support and life expectancy, and between mental wellbeing and life expectancy. Also, life expectancy and mental wellbeing variables mediate between perceived social support and preventive behaviors. Conclusion: Considering the critical role of women in family management and preventive measures during the COVID-19 epidemic, strengthening social support networks, hope, and mental wellbeing should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Iran is one of the earthquake-prone countries in the world that have experienced earthquakes with a magnitude of more than seven on the Richter scale, which has caused significant financial, human, economic, and social losses in society. In earthquakes where the vital arterial system is severely damaged, the community's life is threatened and sometimes causes significant damage. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the earthquake on vital arteries and to design a new approach to earthquake crisis management in the classification of vital arteries. Materials and Methods: This study was descriptive applied. The study population consisted of technicians and experts in management and civil engineering in Isfahan Province, Iran. Considering that the study population is 265 people, all of them were studied with the assumption of a confidence interval of 0.95 and an error of 0.05. The study data were collected by a questionnaire. Because of the normality of the data, the data were analyzed with the Pearson correlation coefficient in SPSS software. Results: The results of data analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient test show a significant relationship between the classification of vital arteries based on new structuring with crisis management and its key role in earthquake crisis control. The passive defense was the most important component and the most relevant among effective approaches to managing vital arteries crises. Conclusion: By creating this proposed model of earthquake crisis management, a new classification was made for the system of vital arteries. Also, It provides a proper performance in different situations of before, during, and after social crises. It is also necessary to form a headquarter called the Social Crisis Management Headquarter based on efficient strategies and the necessary implementation and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent studies show that Iranians, especially women, do not have enough physical activity and if serious measures are not taken to resolve this problem, the consequences will be harmful to the society. The purpose of this advocacy paper was to determine and explain the responsibilities of all organizations and institutions responsible for promoting physical activity to root out the problem. Methods: After a thorough library search we conducted nine in-depth interviews with the relevant policymakers and government officials, managers, and practitioners in promoting physical activity. All interviews were recorded. To analyze, all of voice files were typed, saved as Word files, and exported to MAXQDA10 software by the research team. To find the main themes, all the files were read carefully several times. Then they were coded, categorized, and organized based on the main objectives of the study. In this way, themes and subthemes were emerged. Results: According to the participants in the study current state of physical activity in the country, especially among women, is not promising. The participants explained about the main obstacles for promotion of physical activity in the country and recommended practical strategies for its promotion. The strategies were suggested in three areas: Promoting culture, social protection, and adjusting current policies to overcome the existing barriers. Conclusion: Regarding the unfavorable state of physical activity in the country presentation of this advocacy document can be an effective step in promoting physical activity, thus reducing chronic diseases and improving general health in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The present study aims at teaching the right citation models in scientific publications by top authors from Iranian universities of medical sciences in 2017, considering the relationship between moral development and self-control variables and model of "citation to multi-authored papers" in these articles. Background: Multi-authorship increases the amount of self-citation and also increases the likelihood of being cited by others. Methods: This study is of the applied scientometrics and correlation (model presentation) studies type. The research population in the first part of this study includes all the authors who had an H-index of 10 or more in the scientific databases of 2017. The sample size at this stage was 110, selected by systematic random sampling. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0. Results: The results of regression analysis based on the concurrent method indicated that the regression model is significant. The coefficient of determination is 0.096 and the F ratio is 5.650, which are significant at the level of p <0.001. In this regression model, the variables of the level of moral development (β = -5.801, p <0.001) and self-control (p < 0.001, β = -0.253) have significant predictive power and can be considered as predictors of behavioral modeling in citing "multi-authored papers". Conclusion: Based on the results, teaching how to avoid blindly citing the "multi-authored papers", which is regarded as a kind of "citation deviation", can, to some extent, lead to strengthening citation indexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Parkinson Disease (PD), the second most common chronic neurodegenerative disorder, is characterized by tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. SHANK3 (SH3 and multiple ankyrin repeat domain 3) belongs to the extremely conserved ProSAP/Shank family of synaptic scaffolding proteins. Meanwhile, rs9616915 is a non-synonymous SNP (T>C) located in the exon 6 of the SHANK3 gene, which induces substitution of isoleucine to threonine and affects the function of the resulted protein. The present study aimed to evaluate whether rs9616915 polymorphism of SHANK3 is involved in the susceptibility to PD. Methods: The study subjects were 100 patients diagnosed with PD and 100 control volunteers. The obtained samples were evaluated by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Results: A significant association was found in genotype distribution between cases and controls. Individuals with TC genotype had increased risk of PD (P=0.035, OR=1.98, 95% CI=1.04 - 3.74). No significant difference was found in allele distribution (P=0.7). Conclusion: The findings suggest that the SHANK3 rs9616915 polymorphism is associated with an increased risk of PD in the population. Further studies are needed to confirm the role of the SHANK3 gene in PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Iran is a disaster-prone country, which in recent years has been affected by heavy rainfall and consequent flooding. In March 26, 2019, heavy rainfall in northern parts of Iran resulted in flooding. The situation became more critical when central and western provinces were affected, finally causing significant damages in 25 provinces. The most affected areas were Golestan, and Khuzestan provinces with significant damages to their infrastructure, killing 76 people. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study aims to describe the findings and results of field visits in flood-hit provinces of Lorestan, Khuzestan and Golestan. All interviews were held with experts in late April 2019. Results: Golestan province was in recovery phase and Lorestan and Khuzestan provinces were in response phase. Due to the acute conditions of these two mentioned areas, it was not possible to visit all areas. In Lorestan Province Treatment and Emergency Situations; In Golestan Province Health Status and in Khuzestan Province Pre-hospital Care and Rescue Support were visited and evaluated. The field visited results indicate the presence of government forces and people in the field and provide comprehensive assistance to the flood-affected areas. Conclusion: There are numerous hazards each year, but few documented lessons are available for researchers. Due to the importance of applying lessons for community development it is imperative that special attention be paid to the discussion of emergency and disaster research and the presence of specialized researchers to record lessons learned. Although organizations make significant efforts during disasters, the specialized research force for recording these achievements in disasters remains neglected. Therefore, it is valuable to document and apply appropriate documentation to promote interventions and responses to possible future events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Iran is an earthquake-prone country, and a considerable rural population lives in earthquake-prone areas. With many worn-out areas, incompetent houses, and relatively underdeveloped rural areas, it is necessary to pay special attention to risk reduction and subsequent measures in these areas. Materials and Methods: Among the current methods, HAZUS is one of the most common methods in estimating potential losses in an earthquake. We used it to calculate the buildings' estimated losses in the earthquake based on the instructions. Because one of the main issues in disaster management is to choose locations for emergency or temporary settlement of population affected by the distracter, this research tries to carry this out based on the derived results from the damage using fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). After reviewing the previous studies and the experts' opinions, the major and minor criteria affecting the selection of temporary settlement locations were identified. Results: Results suggested that using the damage rate of the studied buildings in the studied area and after choosing six priorities in the pilot village of Vaneshan, priority number 1 was chosen as the best option for temporary settlement in this village. Ultimately, the required items for the evacuees were determined by using the standards of supplying the essentials for the evacuees. Conclusion: Regarding the study area, the results of the damage analysis of the area show that the rate of damage with extensive and complete levels in the villages is very high, which leads to a large number of homeless people with the urgent need to provide adequate shelter. This endower requires a lot of money, and the relevant managers should already be thinking about finding financial resources for it. This issue is not only related to the study area and applies to the whole of Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: After the Kermanshah earthquake on November 12, 2017, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences dispatched a response team to the earthquake-stricken areas. This team provided the affected people with health services for 10 days. This article intends to examine the experience of this team in Kermanshah earthquake-stricken areas. Materials and Methods: After the team's return from Kermanshah, a meeting was held to examine the challenges and review the learned lessons with 60 participants, including authorities and the people who were members of the team. The discussed issues were coded using content analysis. The similar codes were merged, and then categories were extracted. Results: The analysis of discussions led to 9 categories of experiences that included delay in recalling process and its challenges, lack of preparedness, use of the virtual space capacity, lack of proper assessment of the health needs and the estimation of facilities, management experience of the team on the dispatch, shortcomings, and imperfections, managerial challenges, lack of coordination, and setting up of field hospitals without planning. Conclusion: Iran is susceptible to natural disasters, and from time to time, parts of the country are affected by these disasters. One of the priorities in these disasters is people's need for health services. Since health facilities in the area usually encounter problems in these circumstances, other medical universities should provide help and relief. The present experience shows that there are still many challenges that should be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Brain lateralization is associated with human behavior. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the effects of brain lateralization on the scores of paranormal beliefs. Methods: The study population included 180 students of Sanandaj universities, Sanandaj City, Iran who were selected with convenience sampling method (100 left-brained males, 6 left-brained females, 56 both left- and right-brained males and 22 both left- and right-brained females). The research tools were the paranormal belief scale developed by Blackmore (1994), as well as the brain lateralization questionnaire (1985). Results: The obtained findings suggested a significant difference between the left-brain and right-brained people in terms of paranormal beliefs. A significant difference was also found between the left-brained males and both left- and right-brained females in terms of paranormal beliefs. Conclusion: The paranormal beliefs of the left-brained cases were different from both left- and right-brained subjects, which can be seen between the left-brained males and both left- and right-brained females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Common zinnia (Zinnia elegans), canna (Canna sp.), petunia (Petunia hybrida), compacta (Dracaena Compacta), dahlia (Dahlia sp.), gazania (Gazania sp.), marigold (Tagetes sp.), rose moss (Portulaca grandiflora) and nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) are common ornamental plants in Ahwaz. The identification of fungi associated with these plants will contribute to improving the future management of their cultivation. Members of the genera Amesia and Chaetomium are widely distributed in soil, water, plants, animals and humans. In this study, 12 isolates from Chaetomium and Amesia genera, obtained from herbaceous ornamentals, were identified based on morphology and phylogenetic analysis. Materials and methods: During 2017-2018, 40 symptomatic plants, showing root rot, stem canker and leaf spot, were collected and their associated fungi were isolated. Among those, 12 chaetomiaceae-like isolates were obtained, which their morphological and molecular characterizations were surveyed. Mycelial biomass of the isolates, produced into potatodextrose- broth (PDB), was collected by passing through filter paper and freeze-dried. ITS and partial regions of the 28s-D1/D2 (for 4 isolates) and tub2 (for 9 isolates) were amplified using appropriate primers and sequenced. Results: The isolates under survey were compared with known strains using BLASTn search and phylogenetic analysis based on ITS, 28S and tub2 regions. Accordingly, the isolates under study were identified as follows: Amesia atrobrunnea, Chaetomium rectangulare, C. globosum, C. ascotrichoides and C. olivaceum. The morphological characteristics of these isolates were in accordance with the type strains of each species. Discussion and conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first record of C. ascotrichoides in Iran and the association of C. rectangulare on compacta, C. globosum on zinnia and canna, C. ascotrichoides on petunia, C. olivaceum on common zinnia, nasturtium and marigold in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health policy and systems research (HPSR) can strengthen health systems and improve population health outcomes. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), there is limited recognition of the importance of HPSR and funding remains the main challenge. This study seeks to: (1) assess the reporting of funding in HPSR papers published between 2010 and 2022 in the EMR, (2) examine the source of funding in the published HPSR papers in the EMR and (3) explore variables influencing funding sources, including any difference in funding sources for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related articles. Methods: We conducted a rapid scoping review of HPSR papers published between 2010 and 2022 (inclusively) in the EMR, addressing the following areas: reporting of funding in HPSR papers, source of funding in the published HPSR papers, authors' affiliations and country of focus. We followed the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines for conducting scoping reviews. We also conducted univariate and bivariate analyses for all variables at 0.05 significance level. Results: Of 10,797 articles screened, 3408 were included (of which 9.3% were COVID-19-related). More than half of the included articles originated from three EMR countries: Iran (n = 1018, 29.9%), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (n = 595, 17.5%) and Pakistan (n = 360, 10.6%). Approximately 30% of the included articles did not report any details on study funding. Among articles that reported funding (n = 1346, 39.5%), analysis of funding sources across all country income groups revealed that the most prominent source was national (55.4%), followed by international (41.7%) and lastly regional sources (3%). Among the national funding sources, universities accounted for 76.8%, while governments accounted for 14.9%. Further analysis of funding sources by country income group showed that, in low-income and lower-middle-income countries, all or the majority of funding came from international sources, while in high-income and upper-middle-income countries, national funding sources, mainly universities, were the primary sources of funding. The majority of funded articles' first authors were affiliated with academia/university, while a minority were affiliated with government, healthcare organizations or intergovernmental organizations. We identified the following characteristics to be significantly associated with the funding source: country income level, the focus of HPSR articles (within the EMR only, or extending beyond the EMR as part of international research consortia), and the first author's affiliation. Similar funding patterns were observed for COVID-19-related HPSR articles, with national funding sources (78.95%), mainly universities, comprising the main source of funding. In contrast, international funding sources decreased to 15.8%. Conclusion: This is the first study to address the reporting of funding and funding sources in published HPSR articles in the EMR. Approximately 30% of HPSR articles did not report on the funding source. Study findings revealed heavy reliance on universities and international funding sources with minimal role of national governments and regional entities in funding HPSR articles in the EMR. We provide implications for policy and practice to enhance the profile of HPSR in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noise pollution is one of the consequences of urbanization that can cause environmental disturbances in urban areas. Urban ecosystems provide noise reduction services through Urban Green infrastructures (UGIs). Many studies have been conducted to evaluate and model traffic noise, but none have addressed the flow, supply, and demand of noise reduction ecosystem services. The main purpose of this paper is to present a new methodology for estimating flow, supply, and demand for noise reduction in Hamadan city that has not been mentioned in any paper so far. UGIs were classified into six main categories: agricultural lands, gardens, parks, abandoned lands, single trees, and street trees. A total of 57 sampling stations for sound measurement were made in August 2018. The current map of noise pollution (flow) was created using the Kriging method. The amount of supply was measured up to a distance of 50 meters from the main roads based on two approaches (the distance effect and the sound barrier effect). To quantify the demand, the current sound intensity level in the noise-sensitive land uses was compared with standards. Zonal statistics was used for spatial analysis of supply-demand in the urban neighborhood as a working unit. Results showed that at distances of 5m, 10m, 15m, and 20m, the average noise reduction was found to be 1.61, 2.83, 3.92, and 5.33 dB, respectively. Sound barriers at distances of 5m and 10m resulted in an average sound reduction of 1.61 and 2.83 dB, respectively. Individual trees, strip trees, abandoned lands, parks, and gardens led to a decrease in traffic noise by 0.3, 1, 0.1, 3.5, and 4.5 dB, respectively. The clustering analysis revealed a significant spatial clustering of noise pollution in Hamedan. The results and new methodology of this research can be used in similar areas to estimate the supply and demand of noise reduction and also for decision-makers to take management actions to increase supply and meet the demand for noise reduction service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hitherto, no instrumental research has been designed to measure the addiction potential for children in Iran. Therefore, the questionnaires designed to investigate addiction were examined in this systematic review article. Methods: In the present systematic review, all Iranian and foreign research on addiction potential for children were examined until March 2022. Using separate keywords and their Latin synonyms according to Mesh terms, an extensive search was conducted in databases: PubMed, Magiran, Iranmedex, Medline, Google Scholar, SID, and Irandoc. In total, 173 Farsi and English papers were included in the initial list, and after evaluation according to the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) checklist and acceptance criteria, 43 final papers were selected for systematic review. Findings: Through searching in Persian and English databases and using related keywords, 173 papers were found in the initial search and after removing duplicates and unrelated studies, 43 papers were selected for systematic review. In this research, papers related to the addiction potential between 1998 and 2019 were considered, and among these, 22 papers particularly dealt with addiction. In the conducted studies, the awareness, attitude, talent, and factors affecting addiction were mostly measured and in some papers, addiction potential was measured. Conclusion: Designing psychometrically appropriate tools is necessary to measure the addiction potential of children in Iran. Due to the unavailability of appropriate tools and the fact that the previous versions are not up to date and are not checked regularly, for better and more complete decision-making in the health policy-making process more investigation in this field is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Natural disasters are out of human control, often leading to loss of life and property, and particularly affecting public health. Natural disasters influence human lives in different ways. They may have severe, obvious, or hidden consequences. Therefore, the present study aimed at examining the environmental health condition of the cities affected by 2017 earthquake in Kermanshah Province. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. The environmental health experts gathered and analyzed the study data regarding the environment health condition of public places, food safety, solid waste management, types and number of water supplies, number of healthcare facilities and local health centers, etc. Results: According to the results, the lowest and highest number of damaged villages in Kermanshah Province were located in Sarpol-e Zahab (205 villages) and Qasr-e Shirin (29 villages), respectively. In addition, Eslamabad-e Gharb and Salas-e Babajani had the highest and lowest urban and rural populations, respectively. A total of 138564 people were affected by the earthquake. The improved water sources in the affected areas included 51 low-risk water sources, 171 moderate-risk water sources, 2 high-risk water sources, and 0 very high-risk water sources. In addition, 5059 m³ water was chlorinated by the environmental health experts and 1805 households were under the coverage of methoxymethyl chloride. Moreover, public healthcare centers (1059 intact and 605 damaged), 4564 food safety centers (3204 intact and 1360 damaged), and 20 solid waste management centers (16 intact and 4 damaged) were available in the area after the earthquake. Conclusion: Overall, the results indicate that the environmental health activities in the areas affected by the earthquake were adequate in terms of providing healthy drinking water, garbage and wastewater management, distribution of healthy foods, and so on. Thus it can be used as a good model to response the needs of the survivors from the future natural disasters and crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Driving fines are one of the tools to reduce driving violations, and consequently, injuries due to car accidents. In 2010, a new set of laws and fines were passed with the aim of deterring driving violations. Since the second half of March 2013, the new laws and fines were enforced throughout the country. To compare the number of accident victims referred to the hospitals affiliated to Mashhad University of Medical Sciences before and after the implementation of the new traffic offenses law. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive-analytic study. The study population consisted of all accident victims referred to the emergency department of hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences from March 2014 to September 2017. Sampling method was total enumerative method. For data collection, a checklist was used. After obtaining the necessary permissions, the researcher completed the checklist by referring to the hospitals and the Deputy of Treatment of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. The relevant data were extracted from the Hospital Information and MedCare Systems. In addition to comparing the average number of victims before and after the implementation of the new law, the average number of victims were compared in terms of the body part injury, the site of the accident before and after the implementation of the law. The obtained data were analyzed by using descriptive and analytical statistics including t test. Results: The average monthly number of casualties before the implementation of the new law was 3053 and after the implementation it increased to 3492 people. This difference was statistically significant (P≤0.05). Although this increase was observed in the average number of the victims in all four body parts groups, after the implementation of the law, only the difference between the average number of victims with multiple body injuries was statistically significant (P≤0.05). In addition, the average number of the accident location in all four groups of the accident locations increased after the implementation of the law. However, only the difference between the average number of the accidents occurred on suburban roads before and after the implementation was statistically significant (P≤0.05). Conclusion: On the whole, increasing driving fines does not seem to have a significant impact on reducing road traffic injuries. A more detailed investigation of this challenge is recommended to identify possible causes of the ineffectiveness of fines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Duplicate publication is publication of a paper which overlaps with another published paper in many important parts and is essentially considered unethical. So, this study was carried out to evaluate the pattern of duplicate publication as well as determining the causes of this phenomenon among the papers of researchers of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: All cases of discovered duplicate publication during 2005 to 2008 referred to the committee of ethics were studied. After confirmation of duplicate publication, the cases were assessed by interviewing and reviewing the documents; then the fundamental roots was drawn. After analyzing the cases and categorizing the fundamental causes, a classification and definition of duplicate publication phenomenon was presented. Findings: Out of the nine underwent duplicate publication papers, eight were "Copy publishing" and the other was "Least publishable unit" (or Salami Slicing). From sixteen journals where papers were published, only five had impact factor and six were Iranian. Seven papers were in Persian and two in English. Conclusion: According to our findings, our country's scientific community is not familiar with the professional rules of scientific and research work, so most of the duplicate publications are uninformed and non-intentional. To prevent duplicate publishing, besides taking legal action against duplicate publication with copy right infringement, the way to interact with the trend of review of papers, correspondence with the editors of journals, and announcement of rules of committee of ethics in research should be taught to faculty members and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Choosing the right title for a paper is essential attracting readers and receiving citations, and various studies have been done on this subject. This research sought those papers citation rate with the country name 'Iran' in their title published during 2010-2014 using Web of Science citation index. It tried to identify highly cited papers, disciplines, distribution of papers by type and geography of the paper with this feature. Moreover, it observed the relationship between Iranian and international authors in the production of such papers and their citation rate. Using scientometric method, 12,026 papers with the word 'Iran' in the titles were examined, and their Web of Science database citations were analyzed from 2010 to 2014. Citation rates of papers written by Iranian researchers and researchers from other countries were compared according to the research questions. The results showed that the majority of these papers were produced in Iran, and among foreign countries, the United States had the highest share in producing such papers. Most of these papers were in geology, occupational health, and environmental science. Moreover, it was revealed that citation rate for papers containing 'Iran' in the title has decreased over the years and the downward trend has been similar for national and international studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulp and paper production industries are known as a renewable energy technology. In this research, exergetic analysis of pulp and paper production is presented. The system performance is evaluated based on the data of Pars paper industrial group, Iran, which is given as an illustrative example. An exergy destruction as well as exergy efficiency relation is determined for each section of the system components and the whole system to indicate the largest exergy losses and possibilities of improvement. It is found that the largest exergy losses occurred in the steam plant and soda recovery and these sections are highly exergy inefficient. Further it is observed that with decrease of excess air and preheating of inlet air the exergy efficiency of boilers is increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meteorological variables are essential inputs for agricultural simulation models and the lack of measured data is a big challenge for the application of these models in many agricultural zones. Studies indicated that gridded meteorological datasets can be proper replacements for measured data. This paper aimed to examine a new gridded meteorological dataset namely CRU-JRA for crop modeling intents. The CRU-JRA is a 6-hourly dataset with a spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5° that was primarily constructed for modeling purposes. The CERES-Wheat model in the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) was used for the simulation of irrigated and rainfed wheat production systems in Iran. Results showed that the CRU-JRA maximum and minimum temperature values had a relatively fine accuracy with a normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) of 14% for the simulated grain yield. The performance of the CRU-JRA solar radiation values for the simulation of grain yield was similar with a NRMSE of 14.4%. The weakest performance was found for the CRU-JRA precipitation values with a NRMSE of 18.9%. Overall, the CRU-JRA dataset performed comparatively acceptable and similar to existing gridded meteorological datasets for crop modeling purposes in the study area, however further calibrations can improve the accuracy of the next versions of this dataset. More research is necessary for the investigation of the CRU-JRA dataset for agricultural modeling purposes across diverse climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bringing rightist movement studies into the Iranian context, this study advances a generalizable understanding of the ideological, moral, and cultural activism of Islamist movements and their rightist counterparts. While numerous studies have discussed the economic explanation of rightist movements, I integrate Islamist movements in the Muslim world and rightist movements in the West to develop a generalizable cultural and moral explanation of rightist movements. Value and ideological conflicts, as well as moral outrage, drive this integrated understanding of rightist movements. The rise of innovative and contentious forms of millennialism in Iran—especially the increasing salience of the Jamkaran mosque, the rise of new media outlets and millennial discourses, and pertinent policies—provide evidence for proposing this generalizable understanding. I argue that the rise of performative contentions surrounding millennialism, known as Mahdaviat, within the pro-regime revolutionary rightist movement in Iran was Islamists' ideological response to liberal threat perceptions. These threat perceptions were activated before the liberal Reform era (1997–2005). After the ascent of Ahmadinejad to power in 2005, ideological millennialism became the dominant discursive field in Iran's state politics. Drawing on narratives of prominent Islamist figures and media personalities in Iran and events surrounding Mahdaviat, this paper advances a generalizable argument of the moral and cultural explanation of rightist movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The increase in the average age of the population, the decrease in the size of the household and rising in the number of working women impose an increasing burden on home caregivers in Iran. The aim of this study was to measure care burden of informal caregivers in Iran through systematic review and meta-analysis of existing literature. Materials and Methods: A systematic review was conducted by using national and international databases of Scopus, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, SID, Magiran, and IranDoc papers in English and Persian language up to the first half of 2020. In this meta-analysis, we calculated the pooled care burden and 95% confidence intervals in Statistical Software For Data Science (STATA) V.15. Results: Forty-four papers were included in the current study based on inclusion and exclusion criteria comprising of 8626 samples. Pooled mean of Burden of Care was 52.01 (95% CI: 48.21-55.82). Highest pooled mean(SD) of care burden (64.37) was related to caregivers of schizophrenia patients (95% CI: 56.09–72.64). Highest care burden (53.45) was observed in most deprived areas (95%CI = 47.05–59.86). A statistically significant relationship was observed between caregivers gender and care burden (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The reported care burden of informal caregivers requires the establishment of a support system to control mental and physical stress. Due to the dispersion and cultural diversity in Iran, more studies are needed to obtain more accurate data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The importance of data quality whether in collection, analysis or presenting stage is a tangible and undeniable scientific fact and the main objects of researches implementation. Objective: This paper aims at explaining the main problems of the Iranian scientific papers for providing better data in the field of national and sub-national prevalence, incidence estimates and trends of obesity and overweight. METHODS: To assess and evaluate papers, we systematically followed an approved standard protocol. Retrieval of studies was performed through Thomson Reuters Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus, as well as Iranian databases including Irandoc, Scientific Information Database (SID), and IranMedex. Using GBD (Global Burden of Diseases) validated quality assessment forms to assess the quality and availability of data in papers, we considered the following four main domains: a) Quality of studies, b) Quality report of the results, c) Responsiveness of corresponding authors, and d) Diversity in study settings. RESULTS: We retrieved 3,253 records; of these 1,875 were from international and 1378 from national databases. After refining steps, 129 (3.97%) papers remained related to our study domain. More than 51% of relevant papers were excluded because of poor quality of studies. The number of reported total population and points of data were 22,972 and 29 for boys, and 38,985 and 47 for girls, respectively. For all measures, missing values and diversities in studies' setting limited our ability to compare and analyze the results. Moreover, we had some serious problems in contacting the corresponding authors for complementary information necessary (Receptiveness: 17.9%). CONCLUSION: As the present paper focused on the main problems of Iranian scientific papers and proposed suggestions, the results will have implications for better policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly cited papers are mostly authored in international collaboration. It is expected that co-authored papers bring more citations. On the other hand, it is inevitable that a part of citations is self-citation. This study investigates 134 and 236 highly cited papers in Iran and Turkey, respectively, to determine the extent to which highly cited papers are affected by author self-citation. A comparison accross subject disciplines shows that highly cited papers in Clinical Medicine (in Turky) and Physics (in Iran) received more citations than others while Engineering stands at the top position based on author self-citation counts in both countries. There is a significant relashionship between Iranian nationally co-authored papers and author self-citation. But it is not true of Turkish researchers. This indicates that Iranian contributors have more tendency toward author self-citation than Turkish researchers. Consequently, the influence of author self-citation on highly cited papers is to some extent a matter of citation behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) play a very important role in military and civilian activities. In this paper, the aim is to cover the borders of Iran using UAVs. For this purpose, two zero-one programming models are presented. In the first model, our goal is to cover the borders of Iran at the minimum total time (the required time to prepare UAVs to start flying and the flight time of the UAVs). In this model, by minimizing the total time of UAVs for covering the borders, the costs appropriate to the flight of UAVs (such as the fuel costs of UAVs) are also reduced. In the second model, which is mostly used in emergencies and when a military attack occurs on the country’s borders, the aim is to minimize the maximum required time to counter attacks and cover the entire country’s borders. The efficiency of both models is shown by numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significant rainfall in October 2018 in northern Iran caused devastating flooding that caused considerable economic losses and claimed at least nine lives. Following the flooding, several bridges have suffered different levels of damage. Immediately after the event, the authors conducted a field investigation to study the performance of RC bridges during the flood. This paper presents the failure modes of flood-affected bridges and provides reasons for every failure case. The results revealed that scour around foundations, pier tilting, flexural failure of piers, and superstructure unseating were the most significant failure modes observed. Pile-supported bridges performed notably better than those with shallow foundations. In addition, observations have revealed that structural integrity plays a crucial role in the general stability of bridges during flooding. Pier ductility is another significant parameter that affects the performance of bridges during flood events. Finally, fragility curves were developed based on the empirical data set provided from the post-flood status of the bridges in the affected region. The river flow velocity (Vs), maximum flow discharge (Qp), and Qp normalized to the 10-year average river discharge (Qm) were considered intensity measures of the fragility analysis. The correlation analyses revealed that despite Vs and Qp/Qm , the flow discharge was not an appropriate intensity measure for generating fragility curves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As English has increasingly become the lingua franca in science and international journals require nativelike academic writing standards from nonnative researchers, there is more pressure on nonnative scholars to write their research articles more accurately and appropriately in English. This study was conducted to determine the most-occurring language-related errors which Iranian medical authors/ researchers commit while trying to have their research published in international English journals. Also, this article seeks to provide useful guidelines to reduce such linguistic mistakes. Methods: The present study investigated the most common language-related errors in Iranian medical specialists' research articles. To this end, the first drafts of 60 published research articles in medical sciences were cross-checked against their peer-reviewed published versions in order to identify the most frequent non-target language forms which received discoursal, lexical, grammatical, and mechanical revisions by peer editors. Results: The findings revealed that the editors had surprisingly dealt with discoursal errors more than any other linguistic aspects of these research articles. This was followed by lexical replacements. In third place were grammatical improvements, where erroneous structures mostly related to tenses, usage of articles and prepositions, and agreement between verbs and nouns were treated. The least common revisions were on the mechanics of academic writing, consisting of hyphenating, spelling, case lettering, spacing, and spacing with commas. Conclusion: Although most of the Iranian medical authors/researchers enjoyed a good level of proficiency in English, their manuscripts required discoursal, lexical, grammatical, and mechanical revisions before publication in credited international journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the restoration or rehabilitation of traditional buildings, compatible materials with known characteristics must be used. However, the existing literature lacks comprehensive studies on the characterisation of Persian mud–straw plaster, focusing primarily on Persian adobe. Moreover, previous research on Persian adobe has primarily employed XRF and XRD tests, neglecting ion chromatography, moisture sorption isotherm determination, and thermogravimetric analysis with differential scanning calorimetry. Consequently, there is a shortage of information regarding the elemental composition, mineralogical characteristics, moisture sorption behaviour, and thermal properties of Persian mud–straw plaster, as well as Persian adobe bricks. This paper aims to address this research gap by examining historical and new adobe bricks and mud–straw plaster used in Iran, utilising a comprehensive array of analytical techniques. The results from XRF analysis reveal relatively similar chemical compositions across all samples, while XRD analysis indicates predominantly similar mineral phases. Ion chromatography results demonstrate higher conductivity and chloride concentrations in the mud–straw samples than the adobe samples, with higher values for new samples than historical ones. Freshly used straw, clay, or soil may have higher chloride concentrations caused by the arid climate and soil salinisation in the area. Additionally, moisture sorption isotherm determination results show that adobe and mud–straw plaster with a higher salt load of chlorides have significantly higher moisture absorption. The increased straw quantity in the samples increases the moisture content. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry indicate that, at low heating, adobe and mud–straw plaster lose water due to dehydration, and at high heating, they lose carbon dioxide due to decarboxylation. The comprehensive characterisation of Persian adobe and mud–straw plaster in this study fills a significant gap in the literature and offers invaluable insights for informing restoration and rehabilitation processes, ensuring the compatibility of the materials used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) factors influencing occupant satisfaction in commercial buildings in Iran, contrasting the views of building experts (architects and engineers) with those of building occupants. Employing the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP), this study focuses on the four primary IEQ factors: thermal comfort, indoor air quality, visual comfort, and acoustic comfort. The study aims to bridge the gap between expert evaluations and occupant perceptions of IEQ factors in commercial buildings in Iran. By examining the disparities in prioritising IEQ factors between these two groups, the study sheds light on the complexities of IEQ assessment and highlights the importance of considering diverse perspectives in optimising indoor environments. Our methodology includes a survey conducted among 30 building experts (15 architects and 15 building engineers) and 102 occupants, employing FAHP to derive the relative importance weights of each IEQ factor. The results highlight significant disparities between architects, engineers, and occupants in prioritising these factors. Architects emphasise visual comfort (42%), while engineers and occupants view thermal comfort (53% and 41%) as the most crucial factor for occupant satisfaction. The study underscores the complexity of IEQ in commercial buildings and the diverse perspectives influencing its assessment. It contributes to the broader discourse on optimising IEQ, emphasising the need for a comprehensive approach that encompasses both technical expertise and occupant experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the preparedness of Iranian nurses for potential pandemics. Background: Nurses play a critical role in managing pandemics. They require adequate training, proper equipment, and organizational support to be well-prepared. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Ardabil, Iran, from July to September 2023, involving 233 nurses from five hospitals. The number of nurses required for each hospital was calculated based on the proportion of nurses in each hospital. Data was collected through a paper-based form that included information about the participants' demographic characteristics and their level of pandemic preparedness in health services. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics to determine the demographic characteristics and levels of pandemic preparedness. Pearson's test was also conducted to establish a relationship between different dimensions of pandemic preparedness. Results: Most participants relied on clinical measures and supported using human resources and environmental methods to curb the transmission of a pandemic. They felt assured in their ability to explain the preventive measures against the pandemic. However, fewer respondents had access to healthcare improvement programs, and only a few worked remotely from home. Conclusions: According to our study, 90.1% of nurses believe hand washing is the most effective way to prevent spreading infections. Additionally, healthcare professionals can use various tools to respond to the pandemic, including screening for COVID-19 at work, health and wellness programs, telecommuting, COVID-19 Safe programs, social media, and posters. Nurses need continuous education in hand hygiene, health programs, remote work options, and pandemic-safe programs to control infections, reduce risks, and optimize patient care during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the preparedness of Iranian nurses for potential pandemics. Background: Nurses play a critical role in managing pandemics. They require adequate training, proper equipment, and organizational support to be well-prepared. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Ardabil, Iran, from July to September 2023, involving 233 nurses from five hospitals. The number of nurses required for each hospital was calculated based on the proportion of nurses in each hospital. Data was collected through a paper-based form that included information about the participants' demographic characteristics and their level of pandemic preparedness in health services. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics to determine the demographic characteristics and levels of pandemic preparedness. Pearson's test was also conducted to establish a relationship between different dimensions of pandemic preparedness. Results: Most participants relied on clinical measures and supported using human resources and environmental methods to curb the transmission of a pandemic. They felt assured in their ability to explain the preventive measures against the pandemic. However, fewer respondents had access to healthcare improvement programs, and only a few worked remotely from home. Conclusions: According to our study, 90.1% of nurses believe hand washing is the most effective way to prevent spreading infections. Additionally, healthcare professionals can use various tools to respond to the pandemic, including screening for COVID-19 at work, health and wellness programs, telecommuting, COVID-19 Safe programs, social media, and posters. Nurses need continuous education in hand hygiene, health programs, remote work options, and pandemic-safe programs to control infections, reduce risks, and optimize patient care during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) is widely distributed in Iran and around the world. Also, Khuzestan Province is an endemic focus of ZCL. This study aims to investigate the natural infection of sand flies with the Leishmania parasite in Karun County. Methods: Sand flies were collected from Jangiyeh, Qaleh Chanan, Kut-e-Navaser, and Ghazavieh in the spring and summer in the year of 2019, by installing 60 sticky paper traps each time (30 traps outdoors and 30 traps indoors). Two hundred female sand flies with different abdominal conditions (empty, blood-fed, semi-gravid, and gravid) were examined for infection rate using the Nested-PCR method. Results: In this study, seven species of sand flies including Phlebotomus papatasi, Ph. alexandri, Ph. sergenti, Ph. caucasicus, Sergentomyia tiberiadis, Se. sintoni, and Se. antennata were reported from Karun County, with a frequency of 79.64%, 16.96%, 1.07%, 0.18%, 0.36%, 1.61%, and 0.18%, respectively. Only eleven specimens of Ph. papatasi were found to be positive for Leishmania major, with an overall infection rate of 7.8%. The infection of Ph. papatasi was specifically reported in blood-fed, gravid, and semi-gravid specimens, with infection rates of 17.02%, 4.35%, and 14.29%, respectively. Conclusion: In this study, the infection of L. major from Ph. papatasi was reported. The results can be used in planning the control of ZCL in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is about private law contracts and their social, economic, and religious background in Sasanian Persia (224–651) before the advent of Islam. After a brief introduction to the sources and research method, the paper examines Zoroastrian moral teachings about obligations in general and contractual obligations in particular. To emphasise the religious background, the Avestan hymn to Mithra and the Vendidad are scrutinised which have a classification of contracts and a pyramid of sanctions for their breach. The second part of the article analyses private law contracts, which can be found in the Sasanian Law Book called Madigan I Hazar Dadestan, such as sale, barter, donation, lease, and loan, together with legal guarantees such as surety and pledge. In addition to legal dogmatics, attention is also paid to gaps in the law and the opportunities they provide for parties to achieve unlawful ends with legal means, as well as the prudence of Sasanian lawyers and how they stopped such abuses of the law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, human geneticists have substantially embraced the concept of "biogeographical ancestry" to account for the racial, ethnic, and linguistic categories they use to analyze and interpret genetic difference. Understanding the ongoing role of these categories in human genetic research therefore requires attention to geneticists' representations of geography, particularly the geographic maps they use to illustrate gene distribution and migration. This article examines how the methods and imagery of international genetic geography and its major evolutionary narratives have reinforced or refashioned nationalist practices of geography in the Middle East. Geneticists simultaneously conceptualize the region's physical space as both a historical "crossroads" of human migration and the birthplace of distinct gene sequences and civilizations, alternately blurring and sharpening the boundaries between Europe and Asia. Focusing on genetic research in Turkey and Iran, this paper analyzes how geneticists draw and interpret geographic maps of the region while selectively erasing or highlighting state borders. These genetic maps negotiate between the idealized aims of international projects to reconstruct human evolutionary history, and the reality of practicing science under the constraints of nationstate politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydraulic fracturing (HF) is the primary choice for stimulating petroleum reservoirs. Rock tensile strength and brittleness are crucial parameters required for screening candidate reservoirs and in designing successful HF operations. However, in situ and laboratory determinations of the hydraulic tensile strength (HTS) of rock can prove problematic. Alternatively, the HTS could be estimated from the rock brittleness once a reliable relationship has been established between them. Accordingly, this paper investigates the correlations between the HTS, as measured using laboratory hydraulic fracture tests, and ten strength-based brittleness indices (BIs) selected from the research literature. The primary inputs for computing these BIs are uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and the Brazilian tensile strength (BTS), which are typically measured for most projects using standard laboratory rock mechanics tests or obtained from log data. For the purposes of this experimental investigation, intact rock core samples were obtained from a carbonate–dolomite formation in Iran, comprising eight distinct geomechanical units, with measured values of UCS, BTS, and HTS ranging 29.7–162.2, 1.93–12.23, and 7.20–20.63 MPa, respectively. The measured HTS was found to directly correlate with the UCS, BTS, and Young's modulus, and inversely correlated with the rock porosity. Seven of the ten investigated BIs correlated with the measured HTS over 69% (R2 ≥ 0.69). In particular, the BI expressions developed by Yagiz and Gokceoglu, Ghadernejad et al., and Khandelwal et al. exhibited relatively strong correlations with the measured HTS (producing R2 values of 0.94, 0.87, and 0.86, respectively), suggesting that these three HTS–BI correlations could be used to provide preliminary HTS estimates for the investigated carbonate–dolomite formation in Iran. This work adds to a database that can be expanded to include other geographical regions for providing useful information about the selection of a suitable site or reserve for conducting HF operations. [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]

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]

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]

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]

Damsel bugs (Hemiptera, Nabidae) are predatory insects belonging to the order of Hemiptera. During the spring-summer of 2021-2022, nabid specimens were collected from Guilan province and adjacent areas. In this study, three species (four subspecies) belonging to two genera were collected and identified: Himacerus mirmicoides (O.Costa, 1834); Nabis viridulus Spinola, 1837; Nabis pseudoferus pseudoferus Remane, 1949 and Nabis pseudoferus orientarius Remane, 1962, furthermore, four species (four subspecies) belonging to two genera were examined from the insect collection of the Natural History Museum of the University of Guilan (UGNHM) including Himacerus major (A.Costa, 1842); Nabis pseudoferus transcaspicus Remane, 1962; Nabis punctatus punctatus A.Costa, 1847 and Nabis capsiformis Germar, 1838. In this paper, based on the morphological characteristics and genitalia of males, brief diagnostic descriptions, illustrated identification key and digital images of species habitus were provided to facilitate the identification of Nabidae of Guilan province and its adjacent areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rabies is a prevalent endemic and zoonotic fatal disease, which is normally transmitted to humans by contact (scratches and bites) from infected animals. The present paper deals with the first documented evidence of rabies in the stone marten (Martes foina). Rabies symptoms were observed in a marten in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. The animal with a strange demeanour approached people without fear, which was died after some while. Samples were taken from its brain (cerebellum, hippocampus, and hypothalamus), shortly after death. In this report, laboratory evidence of rabies by fluorescent antibody (FAT) was proved. The present work is valuable because of the environmental importance of the stone marten. Hence, sensitive surveillance and advanced reporting systems should be regularly monitored on suspected cases of rabies in animals and humans to control and prevent this deadly disease. This involves exposure history, clinical examinations, symptoms and experimental results. Rabies can be controlled by fast diagnostic tests and vaccination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an online scheme of a wide-area-damping-controller (WADC) for controlling the inter-area oscillatory modes in interconnected power systems using wide-area power system stabilizers and measuring signals. The proposed adaptive controller includes two individual approaches WSSS for evaluating the signal participation factor selection and GPSS as a global power system stabilizer for damping inter-area oscillations. For this purpose, considering the concept of center of inertia over inter-area signals, generators with the highest interactions are determined as oscillating areas while based on evaluating signal damping ratio, proper participation factors are estimated in which GPSS with positive damping performance is developed. In real-time working mode, based on oscillatory signals gathered from WAMS data, different combinations of PSSs are evaluated in which the combinations with the best controllability on damping the oscillations are selected. The effectiveness of the proposed widearea damping controller scheme is evaluated on the IEEE test system and practical Iran national power grid with the potential of unstable inter-area oscillations. Results show the effectiveness of the proposed WADC approach for fast and secure damping of inter-area oscillation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored its research trends by examining Iran's methods, contexts, and theories of information behavior research. This study is applied research regarding objectives and a content analysis regarding methodology. The research population consisted of 325 studies on information behavior. A researcher-made checklist was used to collect data, the validity of which was confirmed by experts. According to the researcher-made checklist, 325 data were analyzed based on the variables of each section. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and SPSS software (version 22). The results indicated the dominance of the quantitative approach and, consequently, the application of statistical analysis tools and methods related to this approach in relevant studies. In addition, most investigations were practical in this field, and therefore, fewer theoretical-philosophical studies and, in other words, fundamental research have been addressed in this field. There is no diversity in studies methodologically, and most of the reviewed studies, while referring to influential research in this field in their backgrounds, do not pay attention to their methodologies. Most of the research works are copies of previous studies conducted using quantitative, applied, and survey methods, and the desired population has changed only in some cases. Moreover, the scope of disciplines and specialties involved in the research production and studies reflects the interdisciplinary nature of this field with emphasis on knowledge and information science. The approach of information behavior research is expanding in various contexts with the presence of different types of users. However, it seems that the information behavior of the general public is less considered, and new studies are required in this regard. Research and studies conducted on information behavior in Iran have mainly considered the international models in this field, and some studies have even attempted to modify them. Few researchers have also proposed new models in this field, some of which have been published in international papers. [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]