The field of natural hazards research has a rich history in geography, appropriately so because it involves conflicts between physical processes and human systems. Natural events occur without direct human effect and endanger his social life. Events that enforce average annual up to 150000 human damages and more than 140 milliard dollars financial damages on counties and especially developing countries. Among all the natural disasters, the earthquake is one of the most serious ones. It brings tremendous economic losses and deaths of people, as well as the enormous effects on the harmonious and continuous development of society. Iran is an event ism country in the world. In this field look at the recent decades earthquakes statistics that reveal average once in every five years. Gilan province is located in south western of Caspian Sea in mountainous area of Talesh and central Alborz range that endure many earthquakes up today. The most ancient earthquake ever occurred in this area refers to Marlik civilization which is located near Rudbar – Rostam Abad. One of the recent earthquake in the 20th century in this area is Rudbar earthquake in 21 Jun 1990 with magnitude Ms=7.7 Richter that caused many destruction. In one hand according to complex tectonic of central Alborz and in the other hand locating Gilan in the south west of Caspian sea that demonstrate many seismic activities, it illustrates as a result that this area is one of the active high potential seismic area of Iran. The current study is aimed at investigating the earthquake vulnerability of rural and urban settlements of Gilan province. To this end, Euclidean distant analysis and raster overlay have been conducted in GIS. To run the procedure, the first step is to calculate distance (pixels in 86 m dimension) between province and active and inactive fault line based on Euclidean analysis distance in Arc Map. The next step is aimed at standardizing the calculated distances using Raster Calculator Command. The, zoning of earthquake vulnerability of Gilan into five zones (based on active/inactive faults) is the primary goal. As a matter of fact, standardization leads to fuzzy maps. Standard score (distance) is calculated by dividing each score by sum of the scores. The next step tries to categorize zoning map and to translate Raster map into vector one in order to calculate the area of each risk category. Finally, overlay of urban and rural layers base on zoning map may help us analyze seismic hazard urban and rural regions of Gilan province. Results have shown that 40.72 % of total area of Gilan province are in 15 km distance from active fault. Also, 21.51 % of total area of Gilan province are in 15 to 30 km distance from active fault. Additionally, 64.45 % of total area of Gilan province are in less than 8 km distance from inactive fault (Table 1). According to seismic hazards due to active faults, 18 cities out of 51 urban regions are severely vulnerable to earthquake. Accordingly, 67.20 % of Gilan urban population are located at high-risk zone. Seismic hazard zoning map based on active faults have indicated that 20 cities are highly vulnerable to earthquake. (Table 2) Seismic studies on rural settlement of Gilan province have indicated that 1350 rural out of 2925 rural residences are severely vulnerable to earthquake because they are near to active faults. These regions are the habitat of 24.9 % of the total rural population. Zoning map based on inactive faults have shown that 1679 rural regions are vulnerable to earthquake (Table 3). Studies have claimed that the majority of rural and urban regions of Gilan province are severely earthquake-prone. It is due to geographic and natural features of the mentioned province. To this end, some recommendations are given: 1.Meticulous supervision on safety of building from the stage of plan-making to administration which have to be based on engineering principles for earthquake-prone cities including Baresar, Ataqur, Asalem, Haviq, and Roodbar which are next to active faults 2.Prevention of formation of suburbs and towns on southern and northern parts of Gilan because these parts are really vulnerable to earthquake 3.Prediction of temporary accommodation in central Gilan because this part is less vulnerable to earthquake 4.To equip buildings, hospitals, schools, and other buildings located in big cities including Rasht, Bandar-E Anzali, Fuman, and Lahijan with facilities required in case of earthquake 5.To hold training courses in rural and urban parts of the mentioned province to make residents prepared for earthquake and for emergency evacuation 6.To prioritize reformation of old and historical buildings in Rasht because Rasht is mostly laden with old buildings which are really vulnerable to earthquake.

Introduction: Soil classification is a process of showing basic differences among soil classes (5). Different soil classification systems are created for soil classification, but Soil Taxonomy and World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) are among the most favoured systems in the world including Iran. This system (WRB) is accepted by soil scientists in the world and Soil Taxonomy has also been used in several countries (7). Each of the two mentioned systems has its own strong and/or weak points to show soil characteristics. However, comparing Soil Taxonomy and WRB for calcareous and gypsiferous soils of central Iran, Sarmast et al. (16) reported that according to specifiers used in WRB, this system could be more efficient than Soil Taxonomy. Various environmental conditions and its fluctuations in Kerman Province caused different soils to be formed in the province. Use of soil moisture and temperature regimes by Soil Taxonomy which is totally neglected by WRB system may emphasize that Soil Taxonomy could provide better results for these soils. That is why the present research was performed to compare Soil Taxonomy and WRB systems in the area of the present research with different climates and to show the efficiency of the two systems to describe selected soil characteristics in Kerman Province. Materials and Methods: According to climatic variations, four study sites were selected in Kerman Province. Sites 1 (elevation of < 2000 m asl) and 2 (elevation of >2000 m asl) in Baft and Rabor areas were located in the south west of the province. Moreover, sites 3 (around Jiroft and Anbarabad) and 4 (around Roodbar-e-Jonoob and Ghaleganj) were located at the center and south of the province, respectively (Fig. 1). Table 1 shows the soil moisture and temperature regimes of the areas under study (3). Twenty-five pedons on different geomorphic surfaces were described and one representative pedon on each geomorphic surface (total of 11 representative pedons) were selected (Fig 1). Soil description and sampling performed (18) and the collected samples transferred to the laboratory. It is to be noticed that soil moisture regime in site 3 has changed from ustic to aridic during normal years defined in Soil Taxonomy. Ustic/ hypertermic soil moisture/temperature regimes were reported for soils of Jiroft and Anbarabad according to the soil moisture and temperature map of soils of Iran (3). However, according to the latest climatic data (30 years' data and the concept of normal years as defind in Soil Taxonomy, 2014) used in the NSM Software, the soil moisture regime was estimated as weak aridic. Results and Discussion: Histic, mollic, argillic, natric, calcic, anhydritic, and cambic horizons were investigated after field work and laboratory analyses. Results of the study show that addition of new Calcixeralfs, Gypsiustalfs, and Gypsicalcids great groups together with newly added Calcic Natrargids, Calcic Natrustalfs, Gypsic Calciustalfs, Typic Petrogypsids, Anhydritic Haplogypsids, and Angydritic Petrogypsids subgroups to the Soil Taxonomy system from one hand, and addition of anhydrite and hypercalcic qualifiers to WRB from the other hand, cause a higher correlation between the two systems. Besides, climatic fluctuations of the recent years in Jiroft and Anbarabad areas caused a change in the soil moisture regime according to normal years defined in Soil Taxonomy. That is why soil name was changed in Soil Taxonomy system. However, WRB system shows no variation because this system is not related to climatic data. Since anhydritic horizon was added to Soil Taxonomy (2014) system, addition of this horizon is recommended to WRB for better correlation of the two systems as was also suggested by Sarmast et al. (16). Meanwhile, soil names in the WRB system provide more information about characteristics of young soil (including yermic qualifier to show desert pavement) compared to Soil Taxonomy. Conclusion Soil classifications showed that WRB system could describe soil characteristics in the area more efficiently compared to Soil Taxonomy. Climate change caused a variation in soil moisture regime of Jiroft and Anbarabad areas according to normal years of Soil Taxonomy system, which in turn changed soil nomenclature in this system. WRB system is not related to climate that is why soil names were not changed in the above mentioned areas. Besides, WRB system is more efficient to classify gypsiferous soils because gypsum content which is an important factor for management of gypsiferous soils is better focused by WRB. However, lack of anhydritic horizon in the WRB system is a weak point, that is why addition of this horizon was suggested by the authors. It is recommended that soil moisture/temperature regimes of study sites be calculated by softwares using climatic data because the climatic variations of the recent years might have changed the soil moisture/temperature regimes reported in the map of 1998 due to the definition of normal years defind in Soil Taxonomy.

Introduction: The construction of power transmission lines (PTLs) is one of the most important activities of the power industry of any nation in the development of power transmission network. Many technical, economic, environmental and social factors are involved in the issue of power transmission lines routing. These factors sometimes have co-directional and increasing effect and, in some cases, the effect is not co-directional and is even in opposite direction. Therefore, it is very important to determine the appropriate route for the power transmission lines which is in proportion with the needs and objectives of the project and to take the role of effective factors into consideration. Materials & Methods: In this research, factors and criteria effective in power transmission lines routing were investigated in the form of three economic, access and maintenance objectives of the power transmission lines and adverse environmental effects. Given that, the problem is multi-objective, the criteria of more than one objective function must be optimized simultaneously. This data set includes Digital Elevation Model layers, land slope, villages, land use, roads, power transmission lines routes, geology, landslide, soil type, soil erosion, rivers and protected areas. In order to weight the factors and their combination, considering the features of each factor, the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) methods and the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) have been used. FAHP is a very useful method for multiple-criteria decision-making in the fuzzy environment, which has provided substantial applications in recent years. Also, WLC is an analytical method which is used in the time of multi-criteria or more than one criterion decision-making. Any feature taken into consideration is called a criterion. Each criterion is weighted based on its significance. As previously mentioned, the issue of the power transmission lines routing is a multi-objective issue. Since there is no single solution to optimize each objective simultaneously, there is a set of Pareto optimal solutions. This solution is called non-dominated or Pareto optimal that the values of none of the objective functions can be improved without reducing the values of one or several other objectives. Considering the presented explanation, in order to determine the appropriate route with regard to the multi-objective problem, the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) was used as an evolutionary multi-criteria decision-making method. The aforementioned model was used for the routing of 63 KV transmission lines between the two power stations of Shahid Salmani and Kiyasar in the city of Sari. The Arc GIS 10. 3, Matlab and Google Earth were used in this research. Moreover, GIS was used for displaying, managing, analyzing and storing large and various datasets. Discussion and Results: In order to solve the power transmission lines routing problem, different parts of this algorithm have been developed and expanded. In this research, an innovative operator was used for intersecting, mutating and non-dominated sorting. To determine the appropriate route based on the multi-objective, the algorithm must be run repeatedly and by using different parameters. In the present model, the objective functions are evaluated in every iteration in order to obtain the best result. In order to test and evaluate the efficiency of the algorithm, two samples of commonly used experiments in this field, i. e., repeatability test and parameter adjusting test, were used. The success rate of the repeatability and parameter adjusting tests for the presented model were 89% and 88%, respectively, which indicates the success of this model in both tests. The comparison of the best route generated from the proposed model with the existing power transmission line shows the improvement of the values of the objective functions, the reduction of 27 tension towers and 31 suspension towers and the reduction of about 6 km of the route length relative to the existing route of the power transmission line. Conclusion: The Final Results of the Research Indicated that GIS capabilities can be properly integrated with the NSGA-II algorithm which, has appropriate capabilities such as, less computational complexity, high speed implementation of the algorithm and elitism process to solve the problem of routing the power transmission lines, and are exploited by applying appropriate changes in this algorithm, and by employing the FAHP method for any type of route and routing problem Particularly in the field of distribution, super-distribution and high voltage power lines. In future researches, in case of having more comprehensive information layers such as wind, temperature, precise geological information, agrology and technical and specialized calculations like tension and compression in the towers, combining the proposed method with dynamic programming algorithms in the tower locating sector and the possibility of taking various equipment in different environmental conditions into consideration can improve the process and quality of routing. Also, in the future works, it is possible to solve the problems of locating-routing of towers and passing the route of the transmission line by taking technical, environmental, social and economic factors into consideration, using modern methods or other methods for optimizing multi-objective evolutionary algorithms.

Introduction: As a manifestation of land degradation, desertification is regarded as one of the natural hazards that is spreading rapidly due to human interference in and misuse of nature. There are many challenges caused by this phenomenon in most regions of Iran throughout recent years including the loss of fertile lands, reduction of forest populations, biomass of rangeland and fertile plain, decrease of aquifer water level, decline of water quality, poverty, and migration. Materials and methods: North Khorasan Province with an area of 28182 square kilometers is located in northeast of Iran. A considerable part of the province has been suffering from reduced tolerance due to significant land use changes, vegetation degradation, and deforestation. The region is highly vulnerable to desertification because of environmental pressure and extreme equilibrium changes. However, few studies have been conducted so far on desertification mapping and the identification of its main factors in the province. This study, therefore, sought to identify the main destruction criteria in the province, providing a map and assessing the hazards of desertification through the two Iranian MICD and IMDPA models. To end this, the required data including aerial photos, topographic maps, etc. were collected at the first stage. Having converted the collected data to appropriate formats, the initial maps of slope, aspect, DEM, land use, and land units were extracted. As for the assessment of desertification hazards, IMDPA and MICD models were applied, in each of which the desertification criteria were identified and scored. Moreover, the severity of desertification of each land unit and that of the whole area were determined by the two models. Finally, the present desertification map of the area was obtained through the abovementioned methods. Results: According to the intensity map of desertification hazard extracted from the IMDPA model, the average numerical value of desertification intensity in North Khorasan province was reported as being 2. 67, indicating the moderate to severe desertification hazard class in most parts of the province. Based on the model, effective criteria in desertification included climate (3. 2), erosion (2. 76), agriculture (2. 9), geology (2. 2) vegetation (2. 8) and soil (2. 3) respectively. The results of the study showed that based on the MICD model, 80 percent of the province's regions faced with moderate to severe desertification hazards. Conclusion and Discussion: Northern Khorasan province includes several species affected by special environmental conditions and two vegetation regions of Iran i. e. Turonian and Hirkani. Land Use Intensive changes and vegetation destruction precipitate the desertification in this region. It results in increasing the risk of flood, decreasing groundwater levels, salinization, poverty and migration of inhabitants. As found by the study, desertification criteria were classified in the following order: climate (3. 2), agriculture (2. 9), vegetation (2. 8), erosion (2. 76), soil (2. 3) and geology (2/2). Therefore, the climatic factor with the value of 3. 2, low rainfall, and potential evapotranspiration indicators (more than 70%) could be regarded as the main factor in increasing the desertification intensity of the region. Moreover, it was found that the destruction of agriculture and vegetation which represents direct human intervention in the environment and resources, was, after the climate, the second highest influential factor on the severity of the desertification of the region, accounting for the excessive exploitation especially in rangelands (in the form of excessive gravel and picking plants). The ecosystems, being subject to overgrazing, constant land use changes, exploitation, and degradation are, according to results derived from the application of both two major models mentioned on vulnerable ecosystems in the province, located in the rangeland landscape. Thus, in addition to being highly vulnerable, they reduce the production of forage and medicinal plants and turn into desert lands. Land use changes in forest ecosystems and their transformation into agricultural lands have played a significant role in changing the face of these ecosystems in recent years. These changes have increased flood conditions at different levels, risking the inhabitants of the area being flooded after every rainfall. Considering the inherent potential of desert ecosystems, high erosion which reflects the low soil capacity against erosion could accelerates salinity, drought and, consequently, degradation of vegetation. Maintaining balance of livestock and pasture, administering some other methods for exploiting the pasture including planting medicinal herbs, beekeeping, ecotourism development, floodwater spreading (which maintains the economic conditions of local communities and preserves vegetation) and controlling flood are regarded as the managerial priorities in the province. Considering the importance of the multi-dimensional phenomenon of desertification in the region, it is, therefore, suggested that preparing the strategic plan for risk management of desertification of the province and introducing appropriate, conservative, aggressive and competitive strategies for various conditions could be an important step forward toward improving the vegetation of rangelands, increasing forage production, controlling water and soil erosion, controlling water and soil, controlling flood and damages, feeding and strengthening groundwater resources, improving environmental conditions of the areas, and managing the drought consequences.

Introduction and statement of the problem: Sayyed Hassan Nasrullah is the third Secretary-General of Hezbollah and the leader of its military arm “ The Islamic Resistance” as well. He held this position after the assassination by the Israeli army of his predecessor, Sayyed Abbas Al-Mosawi, in February 1992 (Alagha, 2006). Nasrullah is considered the official mouthpiece of his organisation and his speeches constitute a part of Hezbollah's discourse and the discourse of its military arm (El Zein, 2015). There are studies investigating the speeches of Nasrullah (e. g. Bazzi, 2009; Lahlali, 2012; Matar, 2010). However, these studies do not consider the extemporaneity in the majority of Nasrullah’ s speeches and their rhetoric. Although Matar (2010) attempted to study Nasrullah's rhetoric in a sample of speeches, she did not shed light on their rhetorical triangle-ethos, logos and pathos. Thus, the problem is represented by the dearth of research into the rhetorical triangle and signs in his speeches. In this vein, this paper aims to bridge the gap in this field and answers the question: what is the rhetorical triangle in Nasrullah's speeches and its implication? Theoretical background: In analyzing a sample of Nasrullah's speeches, this paper considers Framing, which emerged in political communication, "as an extension of agenda-setting theory" (Scheufele and Tewksbury, 2007 p. 11). It refers "to the selection and salience of particular aspects of an issue rather than to the issue itself" (Entman, cited in Scheufele, 1999, p. 107). In this regard, this theory allows us to understand how Nasrullah addresses his audience because the core assumption of this theory shows how the addresser shapes its discourse about an issue in a certain way. It considers and describes the external and internal factors that have an impact on creating this discourse (Scheufele & Tewksbury, 2007). In this vein, David Snow (cited in McAdam et al., 1996) defines Framing as, “ the conscious strategic efforts by groups of people to fashion shared understandings of the world and of themselves that legitimate and motivate collective action” (p. 6). Thus, the analysis of Nasrullah's speeches pays attention to the internal factors, which shape his discourse and present it in a language that reflects the ideology of Hezbollah and its worldview. Methodology: This paper considers Van Dijk (cited in Fairclough, 1995) who found that the analysis of discourse is concerned with its macro-and microstructure, or in other words the analysis of its schematic and thematic structures. "The macrostructure of a text is its overall organization in terms of themes or topics. It is a hierarchical organization, in the sense that we can identify the theme of a whole text" (Fairclough, 1995, p. 29). However, the microstructure of a text is its overall content, and the analysis focuses on units, such as its syntactic structure, lexical choices, semantic relations and rhetorical features (Fairclough, 1995). In analysing the macrostructure of Nasrullah's speeches, this paper points to their contexts and general structure and provides background information about Nasrullah. To analyse the microstructure of Nasrullah's speeches, this paper employs rhetoric to illuminate the mode of persuasion. As it is “ often associated with the art of persuasion, rhetoric is typically defined as an integral moment of policy making, and the idea of rhetoric points to the necessity to convince, persuade, and communicate efficiently in the context of shaping and implementing public policies” (Gottweis, 2007, p. 240). In studying rhetoric, researchers can study the notions of ethos, logos and pathos to illuminate the efficiency of the speech (Demirdö ğ en, 2010). Ethos means the ability of the speaker to persuade and it is generally linked to charisma, pathos means the embedded passions in the speech towards the addressees and logos means the speaker’ s use of arguments in the speech (Demirdö ğ en, 2010; Gottweis, 2007). Findings: This paper has pointed to the macrostructure of Nasrullah's speeches, this paper delved in the microstructure of the archival speeches chosen for analysis to identify the rhetorical triangle-ethos, logos and pathos and to interpret the denotations of a number of meaningful triadic visual signs in these speeches. This paper has found that the components of rhetorical triangle are correlated altogether to achieve the ultimate goal of Nasrullah and his organisation by calling for struggle against Israel because the speeches hinge around the significance of resistance to face the Israeli army and liberate the occupied territories. Within this rhetorical strategy, Nasrullah uses his charisma and his argumentative ability to mobilise the Lebanese and the Arabs for this struggle and to demoralise the spirits of the Israelis in the context of psychological warfare. In this regard, the paper found that the structure of power in Nasrullah's speeches links between the power of faith and the power of science, focusing further on achieving the victory by grabbing the raison d'ê tre of military capabilities to subjugate Israel. Thus, these speeches that express the core discourse of Hezbollah intertwine knowledge and power and this aligns with Foucauldian understanding of discourse.

Adopting an ontological approach towards myths, Mircea Eliade (1907-1986) argues that the primitive man’ s conception of myths as true repetitive stories is related to his ontological structure. Accordingly, Eliade, criticizing Freud’ s understanding of the creation of the myth as an unconscious process, suggests that myth is basically a theoretical explanation of rituals which consciously deal with the symbolic repetition of Creation. In this way, Eliade, following Durkheim’ s dichotomy regarding the sacred and the profane, asserts that the primitive man thinks of being and its objects as the result of hierophany: a process through which the sacred is embodied as an objective entity. The present article aims to survey the theoretical foundations of Eliade’ s thought as well as his arguments in this respect. Emphasizing Eliade’ s theoretical assumptions and phenomenological methodology, the article argues that Eliade’ s theory is somewhat questionable and it is, instead, suggested that what he puts forth as the ontological structure of the human being is better understood as a cultural constitute. Extended Abstract 1. Introduction Eliade studies mythology from the viewpoint of a historian of religion. Attempting to yield a phenomenological analysis of myth, he eventually turns to hermeneutic interpretation or creative hermeneutics to uncover the latent meanings of myths. He argues that what renders the world of myths meaningful is the interpretation that is based on their phenomenological description. The definition provided by Eliade is based on a kind of ontological distinction established between two different levels of being: one based on an anti-historical approach and the on a history-oriented approach to being and time. However, although what he puts forth as his logical argument seems to be of high validity and, thus, deserving reflection and admiration, it appears that his preliminary assumptions in the distinction drawn between the sacred and the profane as well as his emphasis on the inherency of this distinction is in contrast with the phenomenological approach in its philosophical dimension. 2. Theoretical Framework The purpose of this study is to investigate the theoretical foundations of the myth, and possibly religion, so as to examine the originality of Eliade’ s theory. It goes without saying that such a study can expose the weaknesses of Elide’ s theory and question the validity of some of his assumptions and, thus, it can become more applicable in analyzing the structure of the myth. 3. Methodology Eliade’ s mythological views are mainly based on the distinction between the sacred and the profane. This dichotomy constitutes the basics of his methodology. Such a perspective toward the components of mythology allows him to present the so-called ontological dichotomy that he proposes to exist between two different levels of being: an anti-historical and a history-oriented approach to being and time. As a result, we will investigate the theoretical foundations of Eliade’ s assumptions, and the authenticity of his reasoning through a close reading of what phenomenology offers as a method of analysis. 4. Findings When Eliade emphasizes that the sacred is spatially or temporally embodied through the process of revelation, he takes for granted some assumptions that are not as clear-cut as he supposes them to be. What Eliade considers to be the sacred is essentially the same as what is known, in the history of philosophy, as Platonic ideas. The revelation of the sacred in the objective forms of being is considered to be of a lesser value in comparison with what he assumes to be the absolute truth and, therefore, any objective phenomenon is considered, on the one hand, to have the potential to represent as well as embody the sacred, and thus be of the same dignity as the sacred, while, on the other hand, to be restricted to its existential limits and constraints. The sacred discloses itself in various dimensions and effects and is, consequently, manifested in different levels of being, and such manifestations will exhibit huge differences in terms of degree and frequency. 5. Conclusion The present study shows that phenomenology, as a methodological tool, has been used by Eliade in a special sense. He has not only restricted his studies to the phenomenological description and interpretation of the myth; but, instead of addressing the structure or configuration of the mythical components, has focused on discovering the common themes or motifs of mythology, i. e., the hermeneutic analysis of myths. Of course, it seems that Eliade has deemed some of his questionable assumptions evident without a valid benchmark and regarded such assumptions as the cornerstone of his future topics and concerns. These assumptions, however, are in a way of epistemological character and are, in fact, culturally constituted, but Eliade has tried to resolve the issue by reducing such topics to some pre-fabricated forms or what philosophers consider as a priori. This can be due to the difficulty Eliade experiences in explaining them structurally.

Introduction: In many cities, lack of the needed special and efficient localities for health centers and other physical factors that play significant roles in providing beneficial services, has always been the major concern for city authorities and the inhabitants. There is an urgent need for a systematic, well-defined and effective method for locating an ideal point for such purposes. The chief objective of the research in hand is to investigate the overall distribution of hospitals and the deprived areas i. e. the parts which don’t benefit from standardized facilities in Zanjan city; It is also the subject of our study to utilize the GIS and network analysis method for an optimal distribution. In this study, the identified points obtained from digital and linear maps as well as the descriptive data derived from field studies have been gathered and linked to information center. Then, for each influential factor in finding optimal locations for construction of hospitals, the concerned layers such as land compatibility, closeness to the central areas of the districts, closeness to the fire stations, access to the major transportation networks, distance from industrial workshops, closeness to park zones of cities, slope of the region and the distance from the center of quarter have been provided and the functions have also been specified for each layer.Methodology: This research is applied developing in scope and the Methodology:  is descriptive-analytic. For collecting information and data required, documentation and field studies such as interviews were conducted and using these data, the facilities and Health services in the region have been investigated. Afterward, the GIS and network analysis method for an optimal distribution and construction of hospitals in the concerned city was used so that it could be a scientific framework for the policy makers and other planners who deal with health sections.Results and discussion: In this study the researcher tried to carry out a systematic planning for urban environment. First of all, the figures, maps and descriptive data were used and then the needed analysis was conducted based on GIS. At the same time, using the network analytical model in the software Arc Map environment the domain access of the users for such services have been specified. After that, for each effective factor in finding places for health centers, the special layers along with the overall layers based on a systematic and academic framework have been proposed for further analytical investigations. In the next stage we investigated the values of the layers and based on the value of each layer, the combination of all layers was shaped. Then the exited hospitals were evaluated in accordance with the values of their locations. It was through the network analytical model that the rate of distance and time of the access of the inhabitants to the nearest hospital was specified. Eventually, analyzing the findings, the most suitable places were proposed for the establishment of hospitals. In this stage, having combined the layers, a separate map was drawn and finally the independent map was created for the construction of hospital, classified in three different characteristic. In the last stage, the sections of the city which had been characterized as the third value (the highest value) were determined as the most appropriate places for a hospital (in eight layers the highest value has been specified to the most appropriate place). Given that the least needed space for the construction of a hospital is 25000 m2, the pieces which are closer to such areas are separated from the final map and using the Xtools, the centre of surface has been changed to points and later these points along with points related to existing hospitals were compared with the transportation network of Zanjan City and was determined as a comparative map of the existing condition of hospital and their optimal points and the related map was drawn.Conclusion: The final results of the research show that at least seven hospitals are needed in Zanjan city, whereas the researcher has identified eleven optimal points using GIS method for the construction of hospitals and thus the policy makers and planners dealing with hospital services can utilize such finding in the best possible ways. The result of the study shows that the existing hospitals and their locations are not compatible with the academic criteria. Also the analysis of the research proved that use of GIS is the most suitable way for analysis of present situation of health centers and other services in cities and subsequently optimal locations for such services that have very significant roles in planning for cities can fulfill a practical role.

Introduction: Modern strains of broiler chickens are susceptible to pulmonary hypertension syndrome (PHS) because of the mismatch between oxygen demanding muscles and oxygen-supplying organs (i. e. heart and lungs). Intensive genetic selection for rapid growth over the past several decades has reduced allometric growth of the heart and lungs in modern broiler chickens compared with their chronological counterparts. The susceptibility of broilers to PHS is exacerbated whenever they are raised at high altitudes where the availability of atmospheric oxygen is limited. Pulmonary arterioles in broilers respond to hypoxia by vasoconstriction and if the situation sustains, broiler develop pulmonary hypertension with subsequent right ventricular failure that finally leads to ascites. Research has addressed the impact of nutritional factors including energy, protein, electrolytes and feed restriction on the development of PHS. However, the effects of herbal medicine in the prevention and control of PHS in broiler chickens have not been adequately studied. Urtica dioica is a medicinal herb that belongs to the family of Urticacea and it grows in most parts of the world. Urtica dioica is used because of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds for the treatment of cardiovascular, respiratory, cancerous and allergic diseases. One of the important effects of this plant is the reduction of blood pressure. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of different levels of this medicinal plant in preventing pulmonary PHS in broiler chickens. Materials and Methods: The experiment was conducted in the experimental facility of Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran, which had an altitude of 2100 m above sea level. A total of 240 day-old broilers (Ross308) were randomized across16 floor pens (15 birds per pen). A control diet based on corn and soybean meal were formulated for the starting (1– 3 weeks of age) and growing (4– 6 weeks of age) stages according to NRC (1994) recommendations. Three additional diets were prepared by substituting 0. 5%, 1%, and 1. 5% Urtica dioica for wheat bran in the control diet. At 42 days of age, 8 birds per treatment were selected for blood collection and then killed by decapitation. Blood samples (3mL) were collected from the brachial vein. Serum samples were used for the determination of nitricoxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), urea, albumin, alkalin phosphatas (ALP), alanine amino transaminase(ALT) and aspartat amino transaminase(AST). To measure the expression of the gene, the heart and lung samples were harvested and the right ventricles dissected and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at-70° C for subsequent RNA analysis. The levels of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), Endothelin 1 (ET-1) and β-actin transcripts were determined by real-time reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR. Results were compared by GLM using SAS (2007) software in a completely randomized design. Means were separated by Duncan's multiple range test. Results and Discussion: The results of the experiment showed that broiler chickens fed a diet containing 0. 5 to 1. 5% Urtica dioica leaves, the efficiency of heart and liver weight relative to the live weight of the chickens and right ventricular ratio to total ventricles showed a significant decrease compared to control group (P<0. 05). Birds received Urtica dioica at 1 and 1. 5% had significantly (P<0. 05) higher circulatory concentrations of nitric oxide, protein and albumin though significantly (P<0. 05) lower serum concentrations of malondialdehyde, alkaline phosphatase, alanine amino transaminase and aspartate amino transaminase when compared to the birds fed the control diet. The expression of endothelin 1 (ET-1) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) genes in the heart and lung of broiler chickens has been affected by feeding Urtica dioica to broiler chickens. NOS gene has been highly over expressed in the heart and lung of broilers fed Urtica dioica from 1 to 1. 5 % increase relative to the control. On the other hand, Urtica dioica significantly suppressed the expression of ET-1 in the heart and lung (P<0. 05). The Urtica dioica contains polyphenolic compounds, including phthalides and flavonoids, which have antioxidant properties. This compound can prevent oxidative stress by scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS), activation of antioxidant enzymes, metal chelating activity. It also causes more nitric oxide secretion from vascular endothelial cells and opening of potassium channels. The Urtica dioica extract prevents the destruction and necrosis of the liver cells and maintains the consistency of the liver tissue and has a stabilizing effect on hepatocytes. Conclusion: In conclusion, levels of 1 to 1. 5% Urtica dioica in the diet can significantly prevent PHS in broiler chickens reared at high altitudes. Beneficial effects of this medicinal plant are attributed to vasorelaxant and antioxidant actions that mediated through polyphenolic compounds Therefore, Urtica dioica is a promising medicinal herb to prevent pulmonary hypertension in broiler chickens reared at high altitude.

Introduction: Pistachio (Pistacia vera L. ) is an important horticultural crop that has high economic value. Pistachio trees display some physiological disorders including abscission of inflorescence buds, fruit abscission, blankness, non-splitting, early splitting and deformation of nuts. Unfavorable environmental conditions in most pistachio orchards and inadequate nutrition during the flowering time and after flowering has increased these problems in recent years. Polyamines such as putrescine, spermine and spermidine are some low molecular weight polycationic compounds that have been shown to play an important role as growth regulators in different stages of growth and development of buds, flowers and fruits and resistant plants to abiotic and biotic stress. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the influence of polyamines in water scarcity condition on growth, nut traits and yield of ‘ Akbari’ pistachio trees. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in growing season 2016 in a pistachio orchard (Pistacia vera L. cv Akbari) located in Feyzabad, Mahvelat, Khorasan Province, Iran (34° 40´ N latitude, 58° 25´ E longitude, and around 1253 m above sea level). The climate of the experimental area was arid and semi-arid. The mean annual precipitation was about 171 mm. The irrigation of orchard trees was at 36-day intervals. The experiment was conducted as split plot based on a randomized complete block design with three replications and seven treatments including polyamines spray of Putrescine (Put), Spermine (Spm) and Spermidine (Spd) at concentrations of zero (control), 0. 1 and 1 mM on “ on” and “ off” pistachio trees cultivar Akbari at two-time stages full bloom (FB) and two weeks after full bloom (2WAFB). Leaf chlorophyll index was recorded using the chlorophyll meter (SPAD-502, Konica Minolta, Japan). Leaf area from fully expanded leaves was measured by Digital Leaf Area Meter (LI-3100c). The length and diameter of current-year shoots were measured at harvest time. The percentage of flower bud abscission and fruit abscission were calculated on marked shoots. The yield was calculated by weighting the total dried split nuts separated from each shoot. The data were subjected to analysis of variances (ANOVA) using the SAS software (SAS version 9. 1). Difference between means was compared using the least significant difference test (LSD) at 5% level (p ≤ 0. 05). Results and Discussion: Results showed that among the treatments, Put (0. 1 and 1 mM) and Spm (0. 1 mM) applied in the “ on” trees significantly increased leaf chlorophyll index. Also, Put spray at two weeks after full bloom indicated better results in increase of length shoot in ‘ on’ trees. All of the polyamines reduced fruit abscission in the “ on” trees however, Put at 0. 1 and 1 mM concentrations with 11. 3 and 11. 1% was more effective in decreasing the percentage of fruit abscission compared to other treatments. Fruit abscission of pistachio is assumed to be related to improper fertilization, the dominance of fruits in a cluster or abnormalities of reproductive organs. Polyamines have been suggested to improve fertilization, and subsequent embryo and fruit development. It also has been reported that common precursor of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) needed for synthesizing both of PAs and ethylene. Thus, it seems that polyamines reduce the abscission of fruits by the improvement of embryo growth and development or by antagonism with ethylene, possibly by competing for S-adenosylmethionine (SAM). Our study indicated that all of the polyamines decreased the percentage of blank nuts in the “ off” trees especially two weeks after full bloom. The results showed that Put (0. 1 and 1 mM) and Spd (0. 1 mM) were very effective in increasing number of nuts per cluster. Number of nuts per 100 g, split nuts, and kernel percentage did not differ significantly among treatments. Yield variations were not significantly affected by polyamines in in the “ off” trees, but in ‘ on’ trees, polyamines of Put, Spm and Spd at 0. 1 mM concentration by 46. 2, 14. 6 and 15. 2% and at 1 mM concentration by 38. 7, 24. 7 and 19. 9% increased yield compared to control, respectively. Given to correlation results, the positive effect of polyamines on yield improvement in ‘ on’ trees was mainly due to the prevention from fruit abscission and enhancement no. of nuts per cluster. Conclusion: Results showed that application of polyamines treatments in ‘ off’ trees only on blank nuts and in ‘ on’ trees on leaf chlorophyll index, fruit abscission, No. of nuts per cluster and yield was effected. Foliar application of polyamines was more effective in improving traits of shoot length, leaf area and blank nuts two weeks after full bloom compared to full bloom. The results of this study showed that these plant growth regulators, especially putrescine, had the potential to improve growth, yield and reduce physiological problems of pistachio under unfavorable environmental conditions.

Kamal al-din Bihzad is one of the most important Iranian painters. He has learnt painting from Mirak-e-Naghash. When he was young he was supported by Mī r Alisher Navaiy and Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara. Later Jami joined them and they all became part of Nakhshbandi doctrine. Nakhshbandi follows the traditional Islamic approach and keeps the rules of the Sharia away from the heresy of the foundation of this tradition. Bihzad usually depicts religious themes as well as old stories. The Islamic mysticism is also a theme that Bihzad was interested in. Islamic mysticism has an undeniable impact on Iranian Painting. Artists have been exposed to the idea of mysticism through mystical literature. The mystics have spoken of their internal experiences in the language of signs and symbols. This language is transformed and distributed to the arts and specifically to Iranian painting. Interpretation of his master work «Alexander and the Hermit» can illustrate how Bihzad transferred the literary language in visual one. This painting is adapted from Eskandar-nama by Nizami Ganjavi; an adventure tale about Eskandar, known generically as the Alexander romance. Eskandar-nā ma exists in many versions in Persian, popular and courtly, and in prose and poetry. The most important question in this study is how mystical themes turn into visual language in this specific artwork. Bihzad, following earlier works, tried to use signs and symbols. The aim of the study is to identify and introduce all signs in «Alexander and the Hermit» in order to interpret it. Semiotics is suggested to discover this process. The process of carrying meaning depends on the use of signs. In an artwork there are many layers of meanings, and semiotics is known for detection of hidden relations in a structure which conveys a concept. Semiotics is the examination of the sign. This knowledge is the result of the linguistic and rational research undertaken independently by Ferdinand de Saussure in Switzerland and Charles Sanders Pierce in the United States at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. In comparison with Saussure's semiotics, Pierce's semantics, as one of the most complex semiotic theories, is more compatible with the history of art. The topics on which he wrote have an immense range, from mathematics and the physical sciences at one extreme, to economics, psychology, and other social sciences at the other extreme. Anything is a sign, not absolutely as itself, but instead in some relation or other. Peirce came to classify signs as Symbolic, Indexical and Iconic signs. A Symbol has no resemblance between the signifier and the signified. The connection between them must be culturally learned. An Indexical sign shows evidence of what’ s being represented. A good example is using an image of smoke to indicate fire. An Iconic sign has a physical resemblance to the signified, the thing being represented. A photograph is a good example as it certainly resembles whatever it depicts. In this survey, some essential concepts are introduced. These concepts are theoretical points to give a deep perspective toward the subject, and next, the artwork is analyzed to specify the signs and symbols considering Bihzads' approaches to mysticism. The mystical experience is a changed state of consciousness that it seems impossible to convey to others through the language; this transmission is represented in the language of the image and in the framework of the sign and symbol of Bihzad. Considering the familiarity of Bihzad with the teachings of mysticism and Sufism and the association with Abdul Rahman Jami, Mī r Alisher Navaiy and Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara, the references to the strains of Sufism in his works have been identified. The artist narrates his image with elements that each may provide a space for interpretation. These strains include colors, styles, worldviews, similarities, differentials, mystical and religious symbols, special artist styles, etc. which indicate existence of a hidden world for painter. This research is based on descriptive and analytical method using library sources. The sample of this study is «Alexander and the Hermit». The analysis of this image regarding Bihzad’ s mystical approach has been done by Pierce’ s semiosis. His sign classification is used as a method for analyzing the painting; after specifying all the elements and features of which, the authors have classified them into three groups of Symbolic, Indexical and Iconic signs. In order to achieve this, authors illustrated a linear design personally, without using common software. It was first transferred to parchment and after photographing, it was transferred onto the blank sheet of paper. The outcomes of this study suggest that since the mysticism is based on intuition and taste, transmitting these hidden truths requires a peculiar language. Bihzad's Mystical aesthetics turns into his visual aesthetics by symbol and sign.