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The study aimed to assess the pathogenicity of the fungus Alternaria alternata on various Tulipa L. species and elucidate its phylogenetic position. The research focused on five specific tulip varieties: T. Albatros, T. Tarda, T. Delta Storm, T. Biflora, and T. Biebersteiniana. Methodologies included molecular analysis, microscopic examinations, cultivation of fungi on PDA, and sequencing of the 18S and 5.8S rRNA genes, as well as the D1/D2 region of the 26S rRNA gene. Results revealed variable pathogenicity across tulip species, with T. Albatros showing complete leaf damage and extensive conidium formation, while T. Biebersteiniana exhibited minimal damage. Factors influencing infection severity included plant variety, conidium formation, and environmental conditions. Sequencing confirmed the fungus's affiliation with the Alternaria genus and highlighted its close relation to other species. The findings underscore the importance of molecular methods for accurate pathogen identification and phylogenetic classification. These results are crucial for developing targeted disease management strategies and enhancing plant resilience in agriculture.The application of the findings is feasible within agriculture to develop resilient varieties and methods for managing the dissemination of A. alternata. Plant diseases involve complex interactions between pathogens and hosts, where fungi like Alternaria alternata disrupt plant physiology through toxin production and enzyme secretion, making effective management crucial

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Land use severely affects the carbon and nitrogen stock and the soil's physical, mechanical, hydraulic and chemical characteristics of the soil. This study aims to investigate the effect of land use type on some soil characteristics, including carbon stock (C_S), nitrogen stock (N_S), S-index, structural stability index (SSI), soil pore size distribution, soil shear strength (τ), internal friction angle (φ˚), shear cohesion (C), soil water characteristic curve (SWCC), relative field capacity (RFC), available water (AW), aeration porosity (AP) and effective porosity (P_e) in Shandiz city, Khorasan Razavi province (northeast Iran) was studied. For this purpose, 60 soil samples were taken from the surface layer (0-20 cm) in pasture and agricultural land uses. The results showed that S-Index, SSI, RFC, AW, P_e, C_s, and N_s in pasture land use were significantly higher than agricultural land use. The values of τ, C, and φ˚ in the pasture land use were significantly (p<0.01) less than the pasture land use. The relationship between soil organic carbon stock index and bulk density (r=-0.69), coarse fragments (r=-0.73), cohesion (r=-0.70), and internal friction angle (r=-0.52) were significant and negative. The amounts of carbon and nitrogen stock indices in pasture land use were 61.6 and 33.1 % greater than agricultural land use, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that as a result of land use change, the carbon and nitrogen stock, S-index, relative field capacity, structural stability index, available water, aeration porosity, effective porosity, and consequently, the soil quality decrease, and soil degradation increase in agricultural land use.
 

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The term degradation is used to specify the status of the environment. It is often associated with ‘improper use’. ‘Use’ also implies environmental aspects other than physical ones and implies that the more intensive the use, the more susceptible the environment is to degradation, particularly if proper care for the environment is lacking. The question is, and has always been, how to map something which, apart from the physical aspects of landscape, is also influenced by socio-cultural and economic issues? The common approach in mapping degradation is based on indicators and the intention of this paper is to present three case studies: the Tabernas-Sorbas area in Spain; Iran (at the country level) and the Pico de Tancitaro area in Mexico. The geopedological map is combined with the land use-based map to produce the basis for the extraction of a considerable number of indicators.

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 Div is a general name as well as a title for all supernatural creatures in Iran. On the other hand, Iranians know Div as an independent and solitary creature. Div has got also similar beings like Jins in Arabic culture, which in folkloric traditions, there is not any difference between them generally. During the history, Div’s character has passed a lot of evolutions regarding to what is today we know about his/her vast and extended concept. In ancient times, all evil and dirty aspects were attributed to Div, and in the middle Persian literature, Div and Devil (Ahriman) had been born in the mind beside each other as a unit. Iranian myths show that Divs have got humane qualities most of the time. Div’s adventure has made complex the meaning of the word “Div” in Persian culture and folklore. So sometimes, Div is a metaphor image of the Devil, Satan, Jin, Pari, Al, Davalpa, Nasnas and so on, and occasionally he/she just indicates to a monster with a definite shape and function (for instance: black skin, boar like teeth, blue eyes with thick dark lips, multi-head, tail, horn, great ears, hairy body, a couple of wings, and cannibalistic manners). In addition, the Divs’ character in folkloric narrations has been changed more and more from the first Islamic decades till now. The aim of this research is to study different concepts of Div and his/her character similarities with other supernatural creatures during the past eras in Iranian culture and folklore from different aspects.

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The influence corporate governance variables including: abnormal accruals, board independent directors and institutional investors ownerships ratio on the cost of equity capital have been examined. The examine of research hypothesis was done by multiple regression analysis by the use of general least squared (GLS) method, to the 65 selected companies accepted by Tehran Stock Exchange for the time period of 2004-2008 and by pannel data. The research- results indicate that among the corporate governance variables, abnormal accruals and board independent directors ratios have respectively positive and negative meaningful relationship with the cost of equity capital. .

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The quality of urban spaces and the presence of residents are some of the primary issues of current urbanism, as the dominance of vehicles has diminished the commuting opportunity for different social groups and the liveliness of urban spaces. This is especially true for urban spaces where once acted as children’s playground and now have turned into vehicle routes, pushing their former function to the sides. In the dense landscape of district 10, with its insufficient open urban spaces, this issue is even more pronounced, doubling the need for creating urban spaces accommodating children. Tactical urbanism is a general term describing such urban interventions regarding different qualities (e.g. the scale of the project, provisional measures for reusing the unused potentials of cities, providing privileges and support, unofficial actions within legal bounds, or attention to and revitalizing abandoned spaces) and has been further extended in specific academic fields such as traffic engineering

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Nowadays, countries are required to develop the architectural plans by using vernacular and climatic architectures so that they can provide comfort to residents in addition to protect them from adverse climate factors such as wind, cold, and extreme heat. Vernacular architecture in both Nepal and Iran is seen as a precious model of climate adaptive design. The cold and mountainous climate of these two countries has created special conditions for residents. The purpose of current paper is to record the climatic design patterns of the two countries and to compare them in order to present new approaches derived from the vernacular architecture. From this point of view, this article provides a great help to researchers and designers in this field. Moreover, the present research is derived from library, documentary and statistical sources in an analytical and research method and finally, the conclusion is comparative to the promotional approach and to the practical goals. The results were obtained after collecting, recording, and adjusting the climate design patterns of the two countries. Finally, Nepal's vernacular architectural solutions, which were in line with vernacular and climatic architecture, were presented to guide the vernacular architecture of Iran for the benefit of residents. It is hoped that by using these solutions, we can take a step forward in protecting the environment and saving energy.

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In recent decades, Africa is increasingly recognized as an important geopolitical player in the national and international arena. Therefore, the traditional and emerging powers pay a lot of attention to this continent. Many of them are revising their strategies in dealing with this continent. The importance of Africa in the third millennium is known to world powers. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate and analyze the role played by Africa in the geopolitical relations of the contemporary and future world. In order to achieve this goal, a descriptive-analytical method has been used. The findings of the research showed that Africa's relations with peripheral and core governments in the economic dimension include (agricultural institutions, digital economy, rapid economic growth, energy security, oil and gas resources, minerals) and in the political dimension including (immigration) South to North, drug trafficking, wildlife, great power competition, democracy and increasing violent extremism and Islamist terrorism. Finally, it should be stated that the growing global importance of Africa has been largely interpreted through geopolitical competition in the international arena.

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Political geography in the context of social relations deals with how “power and space” interact. Among the debatable topics are government, state, and governance. With the advent of the age of globalization and communication, a new pattern in the study of state-society relations was raised that by referring to the movements of state to high power (Transnational organizations) and downstream (Subordinate institutions) and outsiders (Nongovernmental and private organizations), rejected the role of upper, subordinate and regulators of the state, and introduced the corporatism and pluralistic-corporatism models. Increasing the “self-organization” of the society and promoting its role in the governance process, coupled with the fragmentation of government power, has paved the way for the ineffectiveness of the traditional, coercive government tools, and made persuasive tools based on negotiating community groups and organizations more noticeable. Governance is no longer doable, instead must give more attention to governance patterns and use them. The “arrogant government” should be replaced by a “humble government”. The transfer of “governance” from idea-to-action, along with the structural and functional changes of government, requires more than just a state, and other actors also have an impact on improving the quality of life and well-being of the various groups of stakeholders. In fact, the challenges facing its operation are very complicated. The present study, using a descriptive-analytical method, after addressing the concept and different angles of the governance model, has sought to address the challenges posed by it. The results indicate that obstacles such as government size, citizen's access to political leaders, the transfer of collective goals to individual goals of politicians, and conflicts among stakeholders in the government are among the main challenges of implementing the governance model.

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A specimen of an ascomycetous fungus collected during a field trip was identified as Gymnoascus Baran. Soil samples collected from 0-20 cm depth were studied for isolation of fungi using a soil dilution plate method. Based on the morphological and molecular characters the specimens were identified as Gymnoascus reesii. Genomic DNA was extracted and a nuclear rDNA region, containing the internal transcribed spacers 1, 2 and 5.8S gene of rDNA (ITS) were amplified and PCR products were sequenced. Amplicon was purified, sequenced and submitted to the GenBank (Acc. No. JQ387570-71). The resulting sequence (600 bp) was submitted to a BLAST search to find most similar sequences in GenBank. The search results showed highest similarity of Iranian isolates to other isolates of G. reesii from GenBank. In the light of literature on ascomycetous fungi, Gymnoascus Baran is a new record for Iran mycoflora. The specimens are kept in fungal collection of the Department of Plant Protection, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.

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In recent years, the continuous changes of business environment have demanded the organizations to control their internal and external environments and to analyze the information obtained from these changes. Due to this, the organizations are able to seize the opportunities and to deal with the threats. In this regard, providing required information of each department of the organizations, the organization strategic intelligence systems, as new tools, assist the managers to do their best regarding the opportunities and threats. Thus, identifying the different kinds of intelligence based on each department of the organization's information needs to make proper decisions; this study aims at designing an innovative model for measuring organization strategic intelligence from both perspectives of internal and external environments. For the purpose of this study, the required data was collected through delivering a questionnaire to the organizations which used the business intelligence systems. The validity of the provided model was evaluated through using discriminant validity, convergent validity and structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that organization strategic intelligence is measured through internal intelligence and external intelligence. Moreover, the Iranian organizations have reported an average level of strategic intelligence which indicates the necessity of better understanding and optimized implementation of these systems.

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Aims: Nowadays, one of the most frequent problems that international students face is homesickness. The purpose of this study was investigation of homesickness and coping strategies among the University Technology Malaysia) UTM (international students and finding new research topics for future educational planning research. Methods: This descriptive study was done in August 2010 among the students studying in University Technology Malaysia (UTM). The respondents were international students from different courses in UTM. Fifty questionnaires were randomly distributed among the students at various faculties and residential colleges of the university. The questionnaire included 11 questions, which was developed by the researcher through literature review. Findings: Totally, 50 international students including 24 (48%) female and 26 (52%) male students took part in the study. There were different reported causes of homesickness by the respondents that were classified into four aspects: "social", "psychological", "physical" and "academic”. The findings showed the most important reason for homesickness has been cultural differences between the countries. Accordingly, 75% of the respondents (n=38) reported social customs as the first reason for international students' homesickness. Conclusion: The research results indicated that missing family was the most important factor that influenced international students to feel homesick. According to this study, the best and effective way to manage homesickness was to call family and friend(s).

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One of the most controversial issues in political geography is the role of local government and governance in the urban space. Governance deals with individuals and organizations that are involved in the decision-making and enforcement process. Today, by recognizing the patterns of governance, the city must be managed by them. The transition from idea to action, along with the structural and functional changes of government, require more than just a government, and other actors have an impact on improving the quality of life and well-being of different stakeholder groups. The present study, using a descriptive-analytical method, after examining the concept and different angles of the governance model, proves that in today's cities, the management of the urban system is governed by the governance of local organizations.
The results show that governance at the micro-macro-spatial level is a step towards self-organization of urban communities and fragmentation of government power that requires the involvement of citizens and social groups in addition to government actors. In fact, there are different ways in which local authorities are elected to govern in the world.

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Abstract
China’s growing power and the existing vision for its future position play a prominent role in its foreign policy in general and China’s African policy in particular. In fact, as China’s power has grown, its sphere of influence has expanded not only to its periphery but also to the entire world. Although for decades, China’s policy on Africa has been focused on developing economic and trade relations, its military and security diplomacy have also undergone some significant changes. In this context, the important question is how to analyze the current characteristics of China's military and security diplomacy in Africa? In response, it can be said that Beijing, through military and security diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, seeks to portray itself as a security-building actor, thereby gradually weakening the legitimacy of the current international order led by the United States, and at the same time, enhancing its role in setting international agendas and norms related to international security. This, of course, does not mean ignoring the existing power gap between China and the US and adopting a revisionist approach to the international system. Using a descriptive-analytical method, this research examines the current structure of the international system and its impact on China's military and security diplomacy in Africa.
Keywords: China, Africa, International Order, Security, Peace, Stability
 

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The main goal of this study is the classification of international risks facing Iranian automotive companies activated in international markets. Also, the examination of the relationship among these risks and the selection of entry mode to various countries by these companies is another goal of this research. The research population of this study is the factories in automotive industry which has entered foreign markets in recent 5 years (1385-1390). Analysis even data surface is elected "Company-Project" and exploratory factor analysis test is used for the classification of risks. In this manner, international risks are classified in the four categories of risks; specific-host country risk, specific-industry risk, specific-company risk, and specific-home country risk. Also, the relationship between international risks and the selection of entry mode is examined by Spearman correlation test and its results are the confirmation of relation specific-host country risk and specific-industry risk with the selection of the entry mode. In other words, according to findings, with increase in the mentioned risks, the export entry mode has been considered and with decreasing of the risks, the entry mode has inclined to the J.V. and foreign direct investment. On the other hand, it has been identified that the relationship between the entry mode, specific-industry risk, and specific-home country risk is not meaningful.  

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Putnam argues that accepting semantic externalism would require refuting the brains-in-a-vat skeptical hypothesis, and as a result, the skeptic will not succeed in proving her claim. Putnam's argument, however, is epistemically circular and inconclusive. The present article is devoted to evaluating Wright and Noonan's attempt to provide a plausible version of Putnam's argument. Based on the evaluation of these arguments, it was determined that (1) Wright and Noonan's arguments can at best only show that I am not a brain in a vat, but without the use of any auxiliary premises, they can not prove that we are not brains in a vat; (2) Contrary to Wright's claim, this premise of his argument that In BIVese, “brain-in-a-vat” does not refer to brains-in-a-vat, and its result, that is, that my language is not BIVese, lead his argument to be epistemically circular;  and (3) Noonan's attempt to avoid epistemic circularity has not led to the desired result, and his argument, like Wright's, is epistemically circular.

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In the space of smart cities, many previous patterns of citizens' lives have undergone fundamental changes.
The purpose of this study is to explain the patterns of policy in national and local dimensions (city) in these cities and provide the best policy model in all dimensions for smart cities. In order to answer the question, what is the appropriate policy model for smart cities in national and local dimensions ? Using descriptive-analytical method, this research has identified policy models in smart cities based on cyberspace policy models in national (country governance) and local (city) dimensions. In the national dimension, three models (free, participatory and control) and in the local dimension, one model (web-based) have been identified and the advantages and disadvantages of each have been mentioned.
Also, considering that the smart city is based on the geographical space of current cities, a combined model in the national and urban dimension can be the best model for policy-making in and around these cities. The hybrid policy model describes the sum of the structural linkage processes between the physical space of the city and the intelligent space resulting from the use of new technologies, especially cyberspace. In this sense, the links and relations that are established between these two spaces at the national and local levels require political actors to adopt a mixed policy model

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Oxygen concentration the environment and cellular organisms is one of the effective factors during normal development of organisms. In the present study, the transcription levels of the hypoxia-inducible factors (hif-1, hif-2) were evaluated during development of an ancient fish species Acipenser persicus, in the normal oxygen density of environment. The transcription of hif-1, hif-2 detected in all developmental time-points defined, from embryo to juvenile stages. Target genes transcriptions were normalized using RPL6 as reference gene. Changes in normalized hif-1, hif-2 mRNA expression were statistically significant throughout developmental points (p<0.05). Our data revealed that the mRNA expression of hifs were low during embryonic development and then upregulated significantly at hatching and early larval time-points. Then, in the late larval development and juvenile stage the expression of hifs started to decline. The comparison between hif-1 and hif-2 mRNA transcription showed that maximum gene expressions of hif-1and hif-2 occurred in 15 and 20 days after hatching, respectively. The increased expression of hifs suggests their association with two important events in the larval evolution, viz. internal feeding (yolk absorption) and external feeding. Also, the observed increase in mRNA expression of hifs during larval development of A. persicus can be attributed to increase in oxygen demand.

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Abstract By emergence of competitive economics, the concepts such as customer orientation and customer satisfaction have become the fundamentals of businesses and any organization that is regardless of these aspects is eliminated from the marketplace. In addition to introducing the indicators of internal marketing, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between internal marketing and customer orientation in Bank Melli Iran at branches of Mazandaran province as a financial-service enterprise. The under study population is comprised of the bank’s employees. The stratified sampling is used to select the sample of this study. Using Morgan sampling table and considering the number of regions and their employees, a sample size of 250 employees is determined. This amount includes a higher percentage to cope with the unreturned or incompleted questionnaires. Gathered data are analyzed using SPSS and Lisrel software and proposed relationships are examined. Research results indicate that the organization vision did not significantly affect the customer orientation, skill development programs affected the customer orientation significantly, and incentive and reward programs affected the customer orientation, either.   Keywords: Internal Marketing, Customer-orientation, Improvement and Development, Reward, Branches of Bank Melli Iran in Mazandaran.