ABSTRACT Considering the concept of quality of life in cities to be the same, urban planners do not have a precise understanding of the factors affecting the quality of life. Therefore, according to the size of the city, different indicators should be considered to measure the quality of life. Thus, according to the main goal of the research, which is to recognize, identify and compile the factors affecting the improvement of the quality of life in middle and small cities on an intra-provincial scale, Qazvin and Zia Abad cities in Qazvin province were selected as study samples. In order to achieve the goal of the research, exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis were exerted. The findings show that the homogenization of the indicators affecting the quality of life in all cities is incorrect. Some concepts, such as the size of the city, are effective in compiling and selecting the indicators affecting the quality of life. So, the indicators affecting the quality of life in each city can be different according to some concepts, such as the city's characteristics or the city's size. Examining study samples also shows that in small cities, social indicators are more important due to strong social solidarity among people and the high importance of social and cultural concepts. Moreover, in middle cities, due to the importance of finding economic concepts and urban services in people's lives and people's less communication with each other and the weakening of solidarity and social connections, indicators of urban services and facilities and economic factors have the most importance in explaining the quality of life; this shows that the Quality of life indicators are different in all cities Extended Abstract Introduction Quality of life is a multifaceted and dynamic concept that can be different from city to city and region to region and can be defined by various indicators. Not paying attention to this issue and considering the concept of quality of life equally in all cities has caused the level of quality of life to decrease in many cities, especially middle and small cities, in recent years. On the other hand, considering the concept of quality of life in cities to be the same, urban planners do not have a precise understanding of the factors affecting the quality of life. Following this, the main goal of this research is to identify, identify and compile effective factors for improving the quality of life in middle and small cities on an intra-provincial scale. In order to achieve this goal, the cities of Qazvin and Zia Abad in Qazvin province were selected as study samples, so that according to the size of the city, in order to achieve the goal of the research, the factors affecting the quality of life are analyzed on an intra-provincial scale.   Methodology The research method is applied research based on quantitative methods. In line with data analysis, after extracting 60 indicators of quality of life, first, the indicators were separated into separate and structured factors using the exploratory factor analysis method in SPSS software. And then, step by step regression method was used to measure the effective factors in improving the quality of life in cities.   Results and discussion The research findings show that based on exploratory factor analysis, 16 factors were extracted in Zia Abad city and 15 factors in Qazvin city as effective factors on the quality of life in small and middle cities. In order to present and explain the factors affecting the improvement of the quality of life in small and middle cities, the factors extracted from the factor analysis were analyzed by multivariate regression method and step-by-step method. Furthermore, finally, (13) factors were introduced in Zia   Abad and (13) factors in Qazvin as the main factors influencing the quality of life. The analysis of the findings indicates that in Zia Abad, factors such as life expectancy and social relations, security, the state of urban services and access to urban facilities, living expenses, the state of urban furniture, urban traffic, the state of offices and housing have more effects in explaining and improving the quality of life. In Qazvin, factors such as the state of urban services, the state of green and public spaces in the city, the state of security and economic opportunities in the city, the density and hope of urban, economic, and cultural life, the state of roads and leisure in the city are effective in explaining the quality of life. Following this, according to the above findings, quality of life is a multidimensional and dynamic concept that directly relates to the type of cities and the specific characteristics of cities. Therefore, the quality of life and its indicators can differ from city to city; because every city has its characteristics and characteristics with citizens with different cultures and thinking, which causes the factors affecting the quality of life to be different. Therefore, considering the quality of life and its indicators to be the same in all cities is wrong, which can lead to the decline of the quality of life and the failure of quality of life improvement programs.   Conclusion Finally, the research results indicate that quality of life is a simple concept covering various urban life aspects. This concept can be defined as a determining factor in the excellence and progress of cities and residents' satisfaction with their urban life. It is multifaceted and dependent on place and time. As a result, the perception of people in different cities and communities about the concept of quality of life and the factors affecting it can be different. Following this, factors and indicators should be selected according to the characteristics and conditions of that city in urban planning to improve the quality of life for each city. Thus, this research, using the classification of cities based on the size of the city, has presented factors specifically for middle and small cities, which in small cities due to strong social solidarity among people and the great importance of social and cultural concepts, social indicators are more important. Moreover, in middle cities, due to the importance of finding economic concepts and urban services in people's lives and people's less communication with each other and the weakening of solidarity and social connections, indicators of urban services and facilities and economic factors have the most importance in explaining the quality of life; this shows that the quality of life indicators are different in all cities.   Funding There is no funding support.   Authors’ Contribution All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.   Conflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest.   Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the scientific.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using portulaca oleracea as a source of plant antioxidants for feeding fattening male lambs, on carcass traits, meat quality, and oxidative stability. Twenty-one male lambs with an average weight of 24±1.5 kg and 150±15 days old were fed with one of the experimental rations included a diet without portulaca oleracea as control, a diet containing 7.5%, and a diet containing 15% portulaca oleracea, for 84 days. The muscle (Longissimus dorsi) samplewas used to determine pH, chemical composition, colorimetric properties, and oxidative stability of meat. Meat lipid oxidation was determined after 1, 7, and 30 days of refrigerated storage using thiobarbituric acid (TBARS). The use of portulaca oleracea in diets improved meat color characteristics such as L, chroma, and Hue. The highest ash concentration and the lowest meat moisture were observed in the treatment of 15% portulaca oleracea (P<0.05). Meat pH was the lowest in the first hour after slaughter but did not differ at 24 h. Compared to the control, in both treatment groups feeding the lambs with portulaca significantly reduced the concentration of Malondialdehyde in the meat of the lambs and increased the meat oxidative stability (P<0.05). The results of this experiment showed that feeding portulaca oleracea by improving properties such as color and increasing the meat oxidative stability improves meat quality, which may have lead to an increase in its nutritional value in terms of human health.

In order to investigate the effect of inorganic selenium replacement with organic selenium from Spirulina algae on performance and breast meat quality of broilers, a total of 160 one-day-old chicks were used in a completely randomized design with four treatments, eight replicates and five birds per each replicate. The sources of selenium used included sodium selenite and organic selenium from Spirulina algae which were replaced at two levels of 50 and 100 percent. The organic selenium was produced by the culture of Spirulina algae and its enrichment with selenium. The selenium content of different treatments was measured by ICP-Mass method. In this experiment, the feed intake and body weight gain parameters were measured weekly and feed conversion ratio was calculated. At 42 day of age, one bird was slaughtered from each replicate and the weight of carcass ready to cook was measured. The breast meat was sampled for measurement of pH and selenium storage. The results showed that it was not observed any significant difference in performance traits and ready to cook carcass percentage among different treatments. There was no significant difference in breast muscle pH at 0 and 24 hours after slaughtering. The amount of selenium deposited in breast muscle of birds fed organic selenium had significant increase when compared with other treatments (P<0.05). Generally, the results of this study showed that 100% replacement of sodium selenite with organic selenium from Spirulina algae led to increase in breast muscle selenium deposition without reduction in bird performance.

In order to study light competition in mixed canopy of wheat and weeds, two experiments were conducted in Ferdowsi University of Mashad, Iran during 2000-2001 cropping season (field study), and Guelph University, Ontario, Canada (2002), (growth cabinet study). The treatments of the field study included three levels of Cruciferous weeds (wild mustard, turnip weed and flix weed) and five levels of weed density (0,4, 8, 16 and 32 plants/m2 for wild musturd and turnip weed, and 0, 16, 32, 64 and 128 plants/m2 for flix weed). Randomized complete block design with four replications in an additive series technique with fixed no. of 450 wheat per square meter was employed as the experiment design. In growth cabinet study, is used a model system of annuals to examine how canopies of species having differing morphologies differed in light-interception. Wheat, wild mustard and flix weed were grown as "targets", surrounded by neighbours of a single species. Neighbours could be anyone of the target species. Plants were grown in pots, with one target plant and three neighbors plants. Results of experiment indicated that wild mustard and turnip weed (in comparison to flix weed) had more effect on PPFD and R: FR. In addition, with increase in leaf area of mixed canopy, the quality and quantity of light changed.      

Light quantity (PPDF) and quality (R:PR ratio) aside from temperature and photoperiod may affect phenological development of weed species growing under a crop canopy. An indoor study was conducted to quantify the effects of incident PPFD and R:PR in development and dry matter accumulation of redroot pigweed (Amaranthus reflexes L.). Pigweed was grown in growth cabinets from the 1-leaf stage tr the initation of seed set under three different PPFDIR: PR treatments: (i) high PPFD (550 µmol.m-2.S-1)/high R:FR (1.4) (HH), (ii) low PPFD (180 µmol.m-2.S-1)/highR:PR (1.4) (LHI) and (iii) low PPFD (180,umol.m-2.S-1)/lower: PR (0.8) (LL). The experiment was undertaken at 12- and 16-h day lengths with three replications. Rate of leaf appearance (RLA) was accelerated with an increase in PPFD (LH vs LH) at both day lengths and PR enrichment (LL) negated the effect of low PPFD on RLA under the 12-h but not under the 16-h day length. When RLA was calculated for the same accumulated PPFD over time, mean RLA was 14% greater under the 16-h than under the 12-h day length. Low PPFD delayed the occurrence of floral primordium flowering and initiation of seed set. Plant height differences was due to the complementary effects of PPFD and R:FR. Total dry matter accumulation and partitioning, with the exception of dry matter accumulation to the stem, were influenced by PPFD only. Results of this study show that both light quality and quantity influence the phenology of pigweed.

To investigate the effect of vermicompost, N fertilizer and their integration on growth, biological and essential yields oil and its components in two populations (Varamin and Isfahan), an experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the field of Isfahan Medicinal Plants Research Center in 2016. Fertilizer treatments including 100% urea, vermicompost 33.3 and urea 66.6%, vermicompost 66.6 and urea 33.3%, 100% vermicompost and control treatment (without fertilizer) as the first factor and Varamin and Isfahan populations as the second factor were selected. The results showed that the interaction effects of nitrogen fertilizer and populations on all studied traits were significant. In both populations, nitrogen fertilizer improved height, biological and essential oil yields, content of essential oil compounds (d-Carvone and its yield, α-phellandrene and linalool; except p-Cymene and Limonene in Isfahan population). Since in medicinal plants, the quantity (biological yield) and quality (essential oil and d-Carvone; the most important ingredient and the highest amount of essential oil in this experiment), 66.6% vermicompost + 33.3% urea in Varamin population, was the best treatment in the experiment. In addition an in the direction of human health and sustainable agriculture, it is possible to reduce 33% of chemical fertilizers application and pollution; however, in terms of other essential oil contents (α-phellandrene, Linalool and p-Cymene), 100% vermicompost fertilizer treatment was superior in Isfahan population.

In order to study the effect of light quality and quantity on morphological and physiological characteristics of two late and early maize (Zea maize L.) S.C., an experiment was conducted in greenhouse conditions, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, during 2008. The experiment was carried out factorial based on randomized complete block design with six treatments and three replications. Different light conditions including natural light, additional two hours lighting after sunset, and reduction of the quality and quantity of light conditions during plants growth, were investigated. The results indicated that leaf area in both maize hybrids increased by light measured until 28 days, and then decreased compared to the natural lighting conditions. In comparison with natural light conditions the dry mater of leaf and stem was increased by adding light until flowering stage. Leaf area and dry weight was reduced in both hybrids with decreasing lighting conditions. Leaf length to width ratio increased by adding the lighting measure till the seventh leaf appearance and later on reduced. This ratio increased with reduction of light duration. Chlorophyll content increased by adding light duration till the sixth leaf appearance. The chlorophyll content of two hybrids in screen conditions decreased compared to other conditions. In general, leaf area, stem and leaf dry weights, height and lodging index of short season hybrid was lower than long season hybrids. The present study showed that extending light duration resulted in increasing of the dry weight and development stage of maize.

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University Daylight reception in built environments is one of the main performance indicators for the quality of life. This is even more important in certain spaces such as study rooms. There are a variety of measurement indices for assessing daylight. The present paper assesses daylight availability and visual comfort in seven libraries at Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, through software simulation using DIVA. The corresponding performance indices are then evaluated against recommended values in national and international standards. In order to improve visual conditions a series of solutions are proposed, and then applied in studied cases, to demonstrate their effectiveness in improving the quantity and quality of daylight. The simulated models are tested for validity, and used in order to study their respective effect in sufficiency and distribution of light, visual comfort and required energy. In the end, a series of suggestions are made in each case based on simulation results and costs. According to initial assessments, the main problem was low levels of daylight availability in five cases, and high levels in another. The Useful Daylight Illuminance index (UDI300-3000) are increased from 6– 59% to 24– 100% by implementing improvement strategies. In addition, the lighting energy in the studied spaces, have been improved by 4– 58%. The most effective improvement measures are 1. increasing the reflectance of walls and ceilings (changing colours), 2. using skylight, and 3. increasing the light transmittance of windows by substituting them with more transparent windows or by regularly cleaning them.

This study was conducted during summer and winter of 2018- 2019 in the agricultural research field of Shahid Chamran University. Experimental design was split- plot based on RCBD with three replications. The main plot was the type of agricultural system in three levels including conventional (Conv), organic (Org) and sustainable (Sust) (integrated between Conv and Org) and sup- plot was the type of pre- cultivated crop in sequence with wheat including cultivation of mung bean (M- W), corn (C- W), sesame (S- W) and fallow (F- W). Yield quantity (yield and its component) and quality (grain protein), an estimate of photosynthesis matter transfer index of wheat and soil organic carbon (SOC) after one double-cropping were measured. The result showed that the highest (545.04 g/m2) and the lowest (409.28 g/m2) seed yields were obtained in Conv and Org respectively. In contract, with the changing type of system from Conv to Org, grain protein was increased significantly (from 8.3 to 9.6 %). In addition, the highest (535.47 g/m2) yield of wheat was obtained from M- W double cropping. On the other hands the highest remobilization and current photosynthesis matter were obtained in the organic agricultural system with M- W and conventional with M- W double cropping. The situation of SOC showed that the highest (33.18 mg/g) SOC was obtained in the organic agricultural system with C- W double cropping. The reason for improving SOC in the organic and sustainable agricultural system was application of organic matter (compost and vermicompost) and crop residue management. Totally, from the crop ecology point of view, sustainable agricultural method with a sequence of M- W was the most desirable system.