The communities of the Kura- Araxes cultural complex with their highly distinctive cultural and economic features represent the occupation of some parts of the Near East and Caucasia during the Bronze Age.  Generally, the origin of this culture is sought in the Southern Caucasus. In Iran, the spread of this cultural tradition represents not only a rupture in the cultural development of the Mesopotamian traditions. Environmental changes linked to Rapid Climate Change (RCC) also forced the population to develop new economic strategies. Until about two decades ago, knowledge of the flourishing Kura Araxes occupation was limited to the north-west of the country and to some parts of the Central Zagros, but recent research in the zones south and north of the Alborz Mountain Range, on the northern edge of the Central Plateau allows by now to present a more detailed picture of the Kura Araxes occupation in both diachronic and synchronic perspective. Recent archaeological excavations in the two sites of Qaleh Tepe and Ali Yourd Tepe revealed some important new data from Kura-Araxes settlements in the corridor of the north Central Plateau and northwestern Iran. The two sites are located in the eastern ZANJAN Province in the Abhar Rood Basin. This paper aims to update the chronology of the Kura-Araxes culture based on the radiocarbon dates from the two sites of Qaleh Tepe and Ali Yourd Tepe. The stratigraphy and radiocarbon dates of the two sites reveal the beginning of the Kura-Araxes culture in the region from c. 2900 BCE, followed by a quick extension into the northern Central Plateau, where it is represented by sites such as Shizar, Doranabad, Ostur, and Barlekin. Similarity and diversity characterize the Kura-Araxes cultural complex.  However, based on the current data, the ceramic style represents a common feature, but also the architectural remains indicate a common cultural tradition during the first quarter of the third millennium BCE in the Central Zagros, northwestern Iran, and on the Central Plateau

Myosotis diminuta Grau (Boraginaceae) is recorded for the first time for the flora of Iran. It was rediscovered in 2013 in ZANJAN Province, NW of Iran, in a wetland habitat far from its previously known habitat after not being documented for more than 100 years. A detailed taxonomic description and photographs are provided to facilitate its identification in the field. Also diagnostic characters to define Myosotis diminuta from its close relatives are provided.

ZANJAN province with 22164 square kilometer is situated in North West of Iran. From geological point of view is a part of Central Iran and in geomorphologic classification it is identified as North West geomorphologic unit. Volcanic formations, intrusive granite rocks, major faults, Miocene evaporative basins and karst topography resulted in a variety of geosites in this province. Mountains and interval plains are stretching from north west to south east direction and drained by Ghezel Ozan, its tributaries, Abharrud and Khrarud Rivers. Ghezel Ozan pours into Caspian Sea and others goes to Hoz-e-Soultan Lake in Central Iran. The highest point in province is 3332 m above sea level in Belghaise Mountain and the lowest (250 m) located near to Sefidrood reservoir. Karstic caves such as Katalekhor, Zarin and Kharmanesar caves in south east and north east of the province, Chehr-Abad historical salt mine (where six salt men were discovered in north west of the province), tens of fingers of god and butte in conglomerate formations in Mahneshan and Angoran districts, badlands in Tarom area and west of ZANJAN city, tens of diapir domes in Ghezel Ozan watershed, mushrooms in granite rocks, and several hot springs are examples of this geosites. For inventory and analyses of these geosites in field work, topographical and geological maps of different scales and Global Positioning System (GPS) were used. Some of these geosites can have national and international importance. The Province is thus having very favorable conditions for geotourism development.

The research project of collection and identification of medicinal plants of ZANJAN province was studied during 2000-2003 and 217 species of medicinal plants were collected and identified. They are classified in 68 families. The most number of medicinal species belongs to compositae (27 species). Before this study about 49 species were identified as medicinal plants in ZANJAN province and now we have identified and introduced 163 species.

The urbans forming and evolutions in during of times, reveals the necessity of researchs for the planning and designing the urbans. Althogh, one of the oldest city in the Iran plateau is ZANJAN, it has had least historical researchs by the historians. Reveal of the historical evolution in the urbans feature and its function in performance of the urban planning and designing show necessity of the historical studies of urban. this article is a brief attempt in this field.

Garlic is an herbaceous plant from the Alliaceae, which ranks second among Allium species after onions in terms of global production. Garlic is one of the most widely grown crops in Tarom County, ZANJAN Province, Iran. Recently, a new disease with symptoms of severe yellowing and terminal drying of the leaves, known as garlic yellowing disease, was observed in many fields of Tarom County of ZANJAN province. To identify the causal agent and assess the prevalence of garlic yellowing disease in Tarom, symptomatic leaves were collected from fields for three years. After isolation, the cause of garlic yellowing disease was identified as Stemphylium vesicarium, based on both morphological characteristics and sequencing of the rDNA-ITS, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gapdh) and calmodulin (cmdA) genomic regions. A severe epidemic of yellowing disease on garlic caused by S. vesicarium was found in all garlic fields in Tarom.

The aim of this study was to determine disturbed sleep quality among nurses.The results indicated that the majority of sleep disorders were associated with insomnia (66% difficulty in falling sleep , 37% difficulty in staying asleep, 55% waking early and unable to return to sleep, and also 68% of respondents reported to suffer from fatigue following getting up).The data obtained in our study suggest that the nurses, who work in night shifts, need further education on how to cope with overnight shifts and also change of their lifestyle.

Background & Objective: Considering the role of metacognitive beliefs associated with procrastination in the persistence and intensification of procrastination, application of a valid and reliable tool, either in the area of evaluation or assessment of the outcomes of therapeutic interventions, is of paramount importance. This study aimed to determine the psychometric properties of the metacognitive beliefs about procrastination questionnaire (MBPQ) in students of ZANJAN University of Medical Sciences, ZANJAN, Iran. Materials and Methods: In total, 210 students were selected through convenience sampling. In order to assess the validity of MBPQ, three construct validity methods (exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses), convergent validity, and cross-correlation assessment of subscales were used. In addition, Cronbach’ s alpha coefficient was applied to estimate the reliability of MBPQ. Results: The two-factor structure (positive and negative metacognitive beliefs) with 14 items explained 49% of the total test variances. This factor structure was selected as the best model obtained from exploratory factor analysis and was approved as the final model of MBPQ using the confirmatory factor analysis. According to the results, there was a direct and significant relationship between positive and negative metacognitive beliefs and total and academic procrastination, respectively. In addition, the components of MBPQ had an acceptable reliability. Conclusion: According to the results of the study, MBPQ had favorable psychometric properties and proper fit in the two-factor structure. This questionnaire can be applied as a proper research tool in clinical assessment, formulation of reference problems, and provision of a step toward the development of conceptualization of metacognition of procrastination.