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Human beliefs are important because they are considered as the primary capitals of folk literature. The significance of folk literature is due to the fact that it is the foundation of refined and cultured literature. The sociopolitical novel “Souvashoun”, which placed its author Simin Daneshvar with other great Iranian novelists due to its fame, is a combination of literary scholarship,  collectivism and pluralism; proof of beliefs and elements in the folk literature mentioned in this work is not a shortcoming, rather it is a piece of evidence showing eloquence and rhetoric. Contemplating this work of literature, the present article come up with the pieces of evidence showing the manifestation of beliefs and folk literature elements, as well as such folk beliefs as totem, taboo, fetishism, animism, manna, noma and superstition, which are primarily described and defined. Then several instances of such beliefs are extracted from the text. Specifications and functions of the folk literature are noted, and the narrative literature’s status as well as Souvashoun and its position are explained. It is also proved that Souvashoun, apart from its pluralism, is free from many unpleasantnesses of its contemporary prose like immeasurable vulgarity, fanaticism and senseless modernisms.

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Intra-specific variations in apex development of two salt-tolerant cultivars (Cross Rowshan 11 (CR) and Kharchia-65) and one salt-sensitive cultivar (Ghods) of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in sand culture at selected levels of salinity (0, 100, 200, and 300 mol m-3 NaCl and CaCl2 in 5:1 molar ratio) were studied. To determine the apex lengths and the number of spikelet primordia in the apex, the main shoot apex was dissected. Results indicated that final spikelet number of wheat cultivars decreased with increasing salinity. Cultivars showed different responses to a particular level of salinity. Duration of spikelet development from double ridge to terminal spikelet, spikelet number and apex length declined in the presence of salinity. Both shorter duration and reduced rate of spikelet initiation were responsible for reduction in spikelet number in salt-treated plants. Cultivar CR showed a better performance during spikelet initiation period and produced relatively more spikelets under saline conditions than the others.

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The phrase " Sedr- Al-Muntaha" has been used once in the Qur'an (Najm / 14) and is one of the phrases which exact translation has not been well explained and some have even considered it vague and strange in meaning. This phrase is often translated to mean (single Lotus-tree on the edge of paradise); However, this meaning is disproportionate to the context of other verses of the surah and is apparently influenced by several narrations that have a weak document and obvious content. The present research method is descriptive-analytical. The purpose of the research is to find a new meaning in accordance with the contextual evidence, and the researcher seeks an answer to the question of what is the most appropriate translation for the phrase (Sedr- Al-Muntaha). Finally, it was found that the word "Sedr" is morphologically the source of the type and meaning (a kind of special astonishment) and the expressive addition of "Sedr- Al-Muntaha" means (to reach the ultimate level of astonishment). With this explanation that when the Holy Prophet saw the great signs of God, was in a position where the utmost astonishment and wonder appeared. However, his eyes were not impressed by it and he was able to understand those facts with his heart. The new meaning is in accordance with the main meaning of the words and also in accordance with the content of other verses of this surah.
 

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 Although, weed control in saffron farms is critical, no herbicide is registered for saffron fields. This experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replicates during 2016-2017. Treatments included application of trifluralin, pendimethalin, metribuzin, bentazon, ioxynil, oxadiazon, oxyfluorfen, haloxyfop-r-methyl, sethoxydim, clethodim, cycloxydim, nicosulfuron, rimsulfuron, tribenuron methyl, foramsulfuron, paraquat, dicamba + triasulfuron, and dicamba + tritosulfuron herbicides at recommended and reduced doses. Mother corms were planted on 10th of September 2016 at 5 × 10 cm corms distance and planting depth of 15 cm. Measured indices included: number of flowers, fresh and dry weights of flower and stigma, number of replacement corms and total corms weight. Results showed that visual phytotoxic symptoms were not observed in pre emergence herbicides. Post emergence herbicides showed different levels of phytotoxicity from slight to severe. The application of paraquat, oxyfluorfen and oxadiazon, caused higher levels of phytotoxicity compared to other herbicides. Acetyl CoA carboxylase inhibitor herbicides caused the least injury to saffron, while acetolactate synthase inhibitor herbicides damaged saffron severely. The highest and the lowest dried stigma yield was obtained from control treatment (0.54 g.m^-2) and post application of tribenuron methyl (0.003 g.m^-2) respectively. Among pre emergence herbicides, the highest dried stigma yield was recorded for pendimethalin herbicide. The post application of metribuzin, oxadiazone and oxyfluorfen resulted in greater dried stigma yield than other broadleaf herbicides. By reducing herbicide dose saffron yield increased and phytotoxic levels were reduced significantly. Among the studied herbicides, trifluralin, oxyfluorfen, pendimethalin and metribuzin can be used as selected herbicides in saffron.
 

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Context is the collection of explicit and implicit clues within a text that gives meaning and direction to words within a sentence. Contextualization and discovering the meaning of a word based on the verse's context is a necessary prelude to understanding the intent of the verses of the Holy Quran. For this purpose, after understanding the semantic range and distinguishing the primary and secondary meanings of a word, the explicit and implicit clues in the surrounding content of the word are analyzed to prefer the most appropriate instance and meaning of the word. This study, using a critical and analytical approach, explores the derivatives of the root (Jaml). After understanding the depth of meaning and recognizing its primary and secondary uses, the verse or verses surrounding the word (Jaml) are analyzed to find an answer to the question: What is the most appropriate meaning for the derivatives of the word (Jaml) considering the context of the verse and its surrounding content? The result indicated that, contrary to the opinion of most commentators, the use of Jamāl and Jamīl in the Quran does not mean beauty, elegance, comeliness, and goodness; rather, it is better to consider the meaning of (a harmonious, organized, and balanced set) for it. Also, taking the meaning of rope or cord for the word (Jaml) in the phrase "Wa Lakum fīhā Jamāl" (al-Naḥl/6) is more appropriate because this meaning is more consistent with the context of the verse.
 

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Intra-specific variation in responses of diurnal and long-term photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, chlorophyll fluorescence, and respiration in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to salinity was investigated using two tolerant cultivars (CR and Kharchia-65) and a sensitive one (Ghods). Plants were grown in sand culture in controlled environment at selected levels of salinity (5 as control, 100, 200, and 300 mol m-3 NaCl and CaCl2 in 5:1 molar ratios). Photosynthesis was markedly reduced in the saline conditions, but there were no significant differences observed amongst cultivars. Stomatal conductance of both upper and lower leaf surfaces was the main factor limiting photosynthesis in the presence of salinity. However, non-stomatal limitations as indicated by reduction in variable to maximum fluorescence (Fv/Fm) showed that plants might experience some degree of photoinhibition at the highest level of salinity. Gas exchange in control and 100 mol m-3 did not change throughout the day in either the salt-sensitive or the salt tolerant cultivars but in the last hours of the day photosynthesis in the sensitive cultivar was markedly reduced. Respiration remained unchanged up to 200 mol m-3 salinity but at 300 mol m-3 it decreased as compared with the lower salinity levels. The most remarkable change in respiration rate was that at seven hours after light when CO2 production was much higher than at the other times of the day. The results indicated that although photosynthesis is well correlated with stomatal conductance, wheat genotypes show different responses as regards other such aspects of photosynthesis, in different salt concentrations, as growth stage, time of the day and duration of salt exposure.

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Quantitative valuations of observed heterosis for 11 traits of 15 F1 hybrids generated by half diallel crosses of six diverse rice cultivars (Domsefid, Hashemi and Binam, three Iranian local cultivars; Dorfak, Kadous and IR30, three improved cultivars), were made in this study. Fifteen F1 hybrids and their parents were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with three replications at the Research Farm of the University of Guilan at Rasht, (Iran) in 2006. The studied traits were growth period, reproductive period, flag leaf area, plant height, panicle length, number of panicles per plant, number of grains per panicle, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, brown grain length and brown grain width. The significance of specific combining ability (SCA) and general combining ability (GCA) for all studied traits revealed that both additive and non-additive gene effects contributed to the inheritance of the traits. Assessment of standard heterosis based on check variety Dorfak showed that there was significant heterosis for all the traits studied in the 15 hybrids. For grain yield, the Dorfak×Domsefid cross had the highest heterosis. This hybrid had good heterosis values for many traits such as growth period, reproductive period and 1000-grain weight and was recommended as the most promising combination for developing high yielding hybrid rice varieties.

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The human amniotic membrane (HAM) is one of the rare allograft tissues that are in use in clinical trials. Biocompatibility, antibacterial effect, low immunogenicity, and scar prevention are properties that have made HAM attractive for tissue engineering (TE) applications, for example, as a cell carrier, injectable hydrogel, and cell culture substrate. In this research, the effect of digestion time on the structure, gelation kinetics, rheological and biological properties of amniotic membrane-derived hydrogels was studied. The results determined that digestion with pepsin should be performed at least for 24 h.  Prolonging the digestion time to 72 h increased the shear modulus, fiber diameter, and gelation rate. Cytocompatibility assays with L929 fibroblast cells showed that the digestion time had no effect on the cell toxicity of the hydrogels. However, cell proliferation was improved due to preserved constitutive bioactive molecules. The results of this research can be used to develop amniotic membrane-derived hydrogels for TE applications.

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To understand the effects of salinity stress on four different growth stages of sorghum, a greenhouse experiment with 10 treatments, considering all possible combinations of salinity stress and salt- free periods was carried out. The four growth stages for stress application included: emergence until growing point differentiation, growing point differentiation until half bloom, half bloom until soft dough, and soft dough until physiological maturity. Treatments were arranged based on randomized complete block design with 3 replications at the Research Greenhouse of theFerdowsiUniversityofMashhadin 2010-2011. Salinity stress during early growth and panicle differentiation declined the plant height and tiller number. The highest biological yield was obtained from the control treatment, but it was the lowest when plants were salinized throughout the growing season. When plants were stress-free at 2-3 early stages and then subjected to salt stress, reductions in total dry matter were remarkably less than those experienced when salinity was imposed in later growth stages, especially if salinity occurred at a late individual stage. Continuation of salt stress from emergence to both blooming and soft dough stages led to remarkably adverse effects on grain yield. The effect of salinity appears to be most effective on yield components that are growing or developing at the time the salt stress is imposed. The critical period of salinity stress for biological yield was more distinct than that of the grain yield. This indicates that sorghum is not sensitive to salinity at seed setting and seed filling periods.

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Turfgrasses are usually important groundcover plants in many landscapes. They occupy the lowest surface of the landscape, close to pollutant particles. So, they can be an attractive option for environmental remediation. Today, high concentrations of hazardous chemicals such as lead are among the most serious environmental problems. In vitro selection of turfgrass accumulator or tolerant of toxic ions may lead to production of plants that have better adaption to polluted sites. This study was undertaken to investigate the tolerance or accumulation potential in Bermuda grass to high concentrations of lead under tissue culture condition and identifying differences at the molecular level among accumulators by RAPD markers. Callus that were used for in vitro selection were exposed to different concentrations of lead in the media. After the first mowing, tolerant plantlets were evaluated for lead accumulation potential. All plants of Bermuda grass originating mainly from regeneration pathways had undergone genetic changes. The results revealed that occurrence of somaclonal variation via somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis of Bermuda grass culture with a frequency of 33%. Although some in vitro derived plants showed increase in uptake potential of lead in their shoots (2 times higher Pb extraction), there were some regenerates with decreased lead accumulation in shoot, and some varieties without any changes in lead uptake properties in comparison to the control. Molecular marker could be efficient in determining the genetic changes induced by somaclonal variation. The improvement of lead accumulation in lead extraction varieties indicated a successful mutation in Bermuda grass for breeding traits such as phytoremediation purpose.

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The aim of this work was to develop an enriched apple jelly with Spirulina sp. Four formulations were developed: C, J1, J2, J3 with 0, 0.75, 1.5 and 3% Spirulina sp. and their rheological, textural, color and sensorial properties were evaluated. The results showed that all samples presented predominant behavior of the elastic solid. Also, the non-intersection of the loss and storage modulus curves at the applied frequencies showed the behavior of a typical gel. Also, in all samples, the dependence of the storage modulus on the frequency was not observed, but in larger frequencies, especially the storage modulus of sample with higher percentage of spirulina algae, decreased, indicating a more liquid behavior. Indicators n and m also confirmed such behavior, decreasing the strength of gel structure with increasing spirulina concentration. The data obtained from the force-time curve showed that even though the variables of all samples were within the range of a typical jelly, but increasing spirulina algae content decreased the hardness, adhesiveness elasticity, gumminess and increased cohesiveness. These results follow the trend of those obtained by dynamic rheology. Also, the results related to the sample color showed that the addition of spirulina in 1.5 and 3% percentages significantly decrease the variables L*, b* and C* especially in the sample with 3% algae, presenting a darker sample. The overall color difference between the samples also was more than 6 degrees, which detected different color groups. Sensorial scores of samples, mainly color and overall acceptance also reduced with increasing the percentage of microalgae.
In general, it can be concluded that incorporating of Spirulina in the apple jelly regarding to its negative effect on the most evaluated parameters, requires further research and a better understanding of its gel formation mechanism to optimize the formulation and process treatments.

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Controlling systems are modern systems of designing structures that have become widely used in the building industry today. One of these control systems is the use of a damper. These systems can be generally categorized into active, inactive, semi-active, and hybrid systems. Among the mentioned systems, the inactive dampers do not require the use of an external power source. Contrary to conventional methods of designing earthquake resistant structures in which major earthquake energy is absorbed by the yielding of specific points of the structure (typically, the ends of the beams and columns in the moment frame systems), in inactive control systems, the major part of this energy is absorbed by certain devices which are called seismic dampers. One of these types of dampers, which can be replaced after damage from large earthquakes, is the Steel Slit Damper (SSD). Steel slit damper is a kind of inactive energy depreciator with behavior dependent on displacement. Steel Slit dampers are mainly made of metal or special alloys that are easily yielded and have an acceptable performance to dissipate energy under severe seismic loads. In these dampers, the blades between the slits dissipate seismic energy by absorbing non-elastic deformations and prevent it from being transferred to the main structural members.
In this study, an investigation on the experimental behavior of steel slit dampers was performed. One specimen was considered as a reference without any slit, 4 specimens had slit with constant width and cross section but different height and 3 specimens had elliptical slit with constant cross-section and different height. Cyclic loading was applied to all the specimens in the form of displacement control and the results of experiments such as load capacity, absorbed energy, stiffness, ductility and damping were presented and compared. In addition, a numerical study was performed by finite element software (ABAQUS) and the results showed a good correlation in comparison to experimental results. The experimental study showed that elliptical split dampers had better performance in terms of bearing capacity, ductility and energy absorption, with a mean increase of 73.76%, 15.91% and 129.49%, compared to slit steel dampers with constant width, respectively. A noticeable point about the steel dampers with an elliptical slit was that in addition to increasing the bearing capacity, the displacement capacity, as well as ductility, increased, while in the dampers that have been investigated, the simultaneous increase in load capacity and ductility has not been found. Also in dampers with an elliptical slit the more length of slits participated in energy dissipation, strength and stress tolerance compared to the dampers with constant width. According to the experimental and numerical results obtained from this study, it can be concluded that the use of elliptical slit dampers with respect to the performance in terms of bearing capacity, energy absorption, ductility, and displacement capacity, has a significant effect on seismic performance improvement in comparison to dampers with constant slit width. In these dampers (with elliptical slit), the ratio of height to slit width (h/b) equal to 4.85, has shown the best performance compared to other h/b ratios

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Today, consumers' interest in consuming healthy foods with high nutritional value has drawn the attention of everyone, especially researchers, to the use of healthy foods, further the use of probiotics and prebiotics in bakery products, especially sourdough bread. Bulk bread samples prepared with sourdough containing probiotic Bacillus coagulans and prebiotic fructooligosaccharide (FOS) were characterized for their physical, chemical, and sensory attributes. The results showed that by adding sourdough containing B.coagulans to bulk bread compared to the control, acidity, specific volume, moisture, height, crust hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, chewiness, and sensory evaluation decreased but hardness increased. In this study, water activity was not influenced by factors. In contrast, adding sourdough containing B.coagulans and FOS to bulk bread significantly affected hardness, chewiness, crust penetration, color, and hardness during storage, as well as sensory evaluation. However, it significantly reduced the specific volume, height, and moisture indices compared to the control sample. Consequently, sourdough containing B.coagulans and FOS has provided bread with desirable properties and may be used as a starter culture for creating bulk bread with high nutritional and functional properties.

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Possibility of improving physiological traits and minituber yield of potato cultivars (cvs. Agria and Fontane) was investigated by application of plant growth regulators (BAP, ABA and BAP+ABA) at tuber initiation stage. Regardless of the cultivars, Net photosynthesis rate (Np), actual quantum yield (Φ), stomatal conductance (g_s) and Transpiration rate (T_r) of BAP-treated leaves were superior to those of the control. For Agria, the greatest Chlorophyll content (Chl) was observed in BAP-treated plants, while the highest Chl for Fontane was observed in ABA-treated plants. Increasing Np and Chl content were associated with higher Soluble Carbohydrate content (SC). BAP+ABA application increased SC of leaflets in both cultivars compared with the control. Tuber Yield per Plant (Y/P), Mean Tuber Weight (MTW), and Tuber Number (TN) were stimulated by foliar treatment of plants with PGRs compared with the untreated ones, but there were significant interactions between cultivar and hormone type. Positive correlation between SC and Y/P (r= 0.97*) and MTW (r= 0.97*) were observed in Agria. Leaf area as well as dry and fresh weight of aerial parts of the BAP+ABA-treated plants were more than the untreated plants and other PGR treatments. These results indicate that either of BAP, ABA, or their combination could be effectively used to improve physiological traits and tuber yield of these cultivars, although, Agria responded more prominently to PGRs than Fontane.

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The Sunn pest, Eurygaster integriceps Puton (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae), is a key pest of wheat in Iran. The nymphs and adults reduce wheat yield quality and quantity by feeding on leaves, stems, and grains. Pesticide application is the main method of Sunn pest control. Precocene, a juvenile hormone inhibitor, exerts cytotoxic effects on corpora allata of insects' species. . In this research, the effect of precocene-I (7-methoxy-2, 2-dimethyl chormene) on Sunn pest egg development and subsequent progenies was evaluated in the laboratory. Concentration range on eggs bioassay was 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 µg mL^-1. The results of bioassay tests on 2- and 5-day old eggs showed that LC₅₀ values were 15.4 and 15 µg mL^-1, respectively. Therefore, old eggs were more sensitive than young eggs. The effects of LC₃₀ and LC₅₀ of precocene-I on the egg and nymphal mortality were significantly stronger than the control, and the highest mortality rates in the first and third instars were 14.28 and 13.26%, respectively. Also, precocene-I did not affect embryonic period, but increased nymphal period (39.3 days), compared to the control (34.8 days). Morphological changes on nymphs that emerged from treated eggs included large wings and hemelytron. The fifth instars showed deformed scutellum. Also, typically, some old cuticules were not completely separated.

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Micro-propagated potato plantlets (cvs. Agria and Fontane) were grown in growth chambers under controlled conditions to determine the effect of different levels of CO₂ concentrations (400 vs. 800 µmol mol⁻¹) on physiological and biochemical traits and yield of minitubers, at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, in 2015. Irrespective of the cultivar, the elevated CO₂ significantly increased Net photosynthesis (Np) and leaf Dark Respiration (R_D) compared to the control at 34 and 57 days after transplanting. Higher Np under the elevated CO₂ resulted in a higher accumulation of leaflet starch and soluble sugar content. The elevated CO₂, compared to the ambient, induced allocation of more dry matter to the underground parts, especially tubers. CO₂ Enrichment did not significantly affect the number of tubers and mean tuber weight, however, the elevated CO₂ increased yield of Agria and Fontane by 17 and 39%, respectively. The yield of Fontane was increased more than Agria when exposed to elevated CO₂, mainly due to greater mean tuber weight than tuber number. The number of large size tubers increased under elevated CO₂. The results showed that the greater mean tuber weight might affect tuber yield more than the number of tubers. Our findings suggest that rising levels of CO₂ in minituber production systems could be beneficial to improve productivity and tuber yield.