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Several models have been developed to estimate land degradation rate and evaluate desertification severity. This study attempts to apply the MEDALUS (Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use) model by considering existing conditions in the Hamoun wetland, located in south-eastern Iran. At first identification of the main factors affecting the desertification phenomenon was attempted, based on field survey. These factors include climate, soil, vegetation and management practices. Results showed that land management and extreme climate are the most important factors affecting the desertification process. In addition, in some land uses, lack of vegetation accelerates the prevalent wind intensity in the study area (known as “the 120Rozeh” (means 120 days and refers to the wind, with high speeds that blow from the North to the South during summer time) – the most famous Iranian winds) which continues its path without any barrier, and erodes the land surface. Results also indicated that the study area is mostly located in the critical desertification class. Based on the results, it is known that 14% of whole region (12,273 ha) is in the low-critical class, 48.2% (42,251 ha) in the medium-critical class, and 37.8% (33,134 ha) in the high-critical class.

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

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Fungi associated with ascocarps of Terfezia claveryi, Tirmania nivea, T. pinoyi, Picoa lefebvrei and P. juniperi in Iran showed a wide range of genera and species in 94 samples collected during 2005–2009 from different regions including Fars, Systan and Baluchestan, Kerman, East Azarbaijan, Khuzestan, Kermanshah and Hormozgan provinces. Thirty two species belonging to 21 genera were recovered from ascocarps of truffles on two culture media. Penicillium chrysogenum, P. citrinum, P. griseofulvum, P. brevicompactum, P. crustosum, P. oxalicum, Aspergillus carbonarius, A. niger, A. flavus and A. terreus were the most common fungal species isolated on glucose–Czapek agar medium. The number of fungal species recovered on 20% NaCl–Czapek agar were less (4 genera and 10 species). The most abundant fungal genera belonged to Penicillium and Aspergillus. Also, Paecilomyces lilacinus and Scopulariopsis halophilica could grow on Czapek agar medium amended with 20 % NaCl. Other fungal species were not able to grow on this medium.

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Many investigations have demonstrated that arid regions display ideal conditions for remote sensing applications such as, land cover/land use detection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capability of Thematic Mapper (TM) thermal band in land cover/land use mapping in the Ardakan region of Yazd province, an area of desert with severe salinity conditions, and the Mook region in the Farse province, an area of mountains, forests, dry farming and orchards. Landsat TM imagery recorded on September and October, 1990 were used for land cover/land use classifications of Ardakan and Mook areas respectively. Maximum likelihood classifications were used by including TM thermal band (TM6) in band combinations. The results of image classifications showed that TM6 has improved the accuracy of classification in Ardakan, while no meaningful role was found in Mook region. Based on the results obtained it may be concluded that the effectiveness of TM bands for classification is highly dependant on land cover type, climatic, and geographic conditions. Based on the results obtained it was also concluded that TM6 plays a key role in separating urban and dark colour salt crust classes as in Ardakan area. In other words, in climatic and geographic conditions represented by dry surface and sparse vegetation, thermal band data may prove more useful.

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Hossein gholami Ph.D. Candidate, Tarbiat Modares University Ali Hossein Najafi Abrand Abadi Associate Professor, Department of Law, Shahid Beheshti University In this paper at first this theory is analised and then its approach with regard to recidivism is explainded. Just deserts theory, is really a return to the crime centerality epoch of crlminal law renewed in 1970s after a number of criminological resarches, implies inefficiency of corrections under the basis of rehabilition theory Just deserts theory was appreciated after a short period of time by penal lawyers, some of criminalogists, and administration of criminial custody centres. The main controversy of this theory and rival ones on recidivism is the justification or nonjustification of aggravating the punishment of recidivists which caused disagreements not only between just deserts theory and the other penal law theories but also among other founders and adherents of this theory with regards to “flat - rate sentencing" and “ progressive loss of mitigation" approaches.

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The appearance of sowbugs (Hemilepistus shirazi Schuttz) in the sedimentation basins of the artificial recharge of groundwater (ARG) systems in the Gareh Bygone Plain (GBP) in southern Iran is considered an ecological breakthrough in desertification control. This study was performed at the Kowsar Floodwater Spreading and Aquifer Management Research, Training and Extension Station in GBP, 200 km from the south east of Shiraz, Iran, on the alluvial fan of Bisheh Zard River. Invasion of sowbug to sedimentation of basin due to water increasing persuade us to study about this crustacean. To determine aggregate size distribution, the soil samples were dried, and then the soil was sieved through a set of sieves (8, 4.75, 2.8, 2.0, 1.0, 0.8., 0.3 and

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To study the capabilities of remotely sensed data in discriminating land cover types and geomorphologic features of desert, the southeast of Lut Desert was selected. In this study, seven bands of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), data and other sources of information such as topographic maps (1:50,000), aerial photos (1:20,000) and field data were used. The visual image interpretation was performed based on photomorphic unit analysis and interpretation keys. To classify the images, 10 training classes were used for maximum likelihood classification algorithm. Then the classified images were assessed with the test areas and the overall accuracy was about 92 percent. Based on the obtained results it may be concluded that Landsat TM thermal and reflective bands could be useful for studying Lut Desert conditions especially in the Yardang and sand dune regions. From the results obtained we may also conclude that such a hyper arid climatic and bare land are suitable conditions for a better understanding of the behavior of TM wavebands on different sur-faces and soil conditions.

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The issue of job absenteeism as a critical factor for organizations brings significant financial losses. The absence is one of the all-consuming challenging and time consuming problems organizations could face and in economic point of view, one of the factors increasing the cost of production. These issues are more common in estate owned organizations. Given the need to identify causes of absenteeism and staff desertion, this study, with scientific and realistic analysis on the causes of absenteeism, try to find solutions and ways to overcome these issues. Reviewing experiences of some management scientists and sociologists, Q-methodology used to identify important factors causing employees absenteeism which those factors were finalizing using factor analysis. Statistical population was staff of the case study where three of the specialists interviewed, 40 Q identified and prioritized by the participants. 5 factors were identified, which collectively illustrate the importance of performance-based pay, developing systematic indicators to evaluate performance, enriching jobs by redefining the identity, awareness and transparency in the formulation and implementation of organizational structure.

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Choosing the element in a work is directly related to the reader. This study aimed to investigate the themes of the tales of Sankhast from the suburban areas of northern Khorasan in order to figure out how tale tellers used the related theme to achieve their objectives. The findings showed that the tale tellers sometimes expressed the themes in their work and in other times represented them through moral lesson to not only have more impact on the reader but also improve the level of the folk tales from the normal clichés. In general, the method of selecting themes in the tales were discussed, but there were occasions in which the themes were prior to the tale. The themes in the Tati tales of Sankhast showed that most of them were selected based on the hearings, lifestyles, mentalities, and people's opinions. Also, despite the fact that these tales tried to create heroes, attraction, curiosity, and entertainment for the general public, but in fact their fundamental mentality and social aspects were advertising humanity, equality, brotherhood, and social justice.

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Ants (Hym., Formicidae) have been recognized as vital components of arid ecosystems. Determining the diversity patterns of ants and the ecological factors behind these patterns is expected to improve our understanding of the functioning of arid ecosystems. Here, we explored patterns of ant species diversity and community composition along an elevational gradient (800 to 2800 m) in the arid area of Central Iran. The elevational gradient in ant diversity and the effects of environmental factors on various indices of ant diversity and species composition were investigated using generalized linear mixed models and variance partitioning analysis. We recorded 34 ant species of 12 genera and 8 tribes from 120 surveyed quadrats. Climate variables were the most important predictors of ant community structure. Indices of ant alpha diversity including Hill numbers and taxonomic diversity increased with elevation. Hill numbers were negatively influenced by temperature, while they were positively affected by precipitation. The observed diversity pattern could be explained by the diversity-productivity hypothesis. In our study area, the maximum primary productivity and consequently the maximum species diversity occurred at high elevations, where precipitation is high and temperature is lower than the extremes that could limit plant productivity. Ant assemblages are expected to become increasingly composed of warm-tolerant species in response to warmer and drier conditions driven by climate change. The distribution of species with lower heat tolerance will be limited to high-elevation areas in Central Iran. These areas could act as refuges for ants and should be considered priorities for conservation

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Aims: Nowadays, the depletion of renewable resources and production particulate matter brought on by desertification and the subsequent dust storms pose a serious and immediate threat to human health. The purpose of this study is to investigate the stabilization methods applicable for desert dust as well as sandy soils to prevent desertification and dust-related negative consequences.
Materials & Methods: The methodology used in this research is a complete review of the provided sources and evaluation of their results in the last two decades in this field. This review deeply investigates the methods and Materials of stabilization of desert sandy soil.
Findings: Chemical stabilizers of loose sand, including cement, lime, nanoclay, blast furnace slag, polymer, fly ash, and other stabilizers, have been used in different countries of the world and have shown acceptable results. The results of the studies show that by using these methods and stabilizing materials, wind erosion can be reduced by 70% and the compressive strength of the soil can be increased by up to 2 times its initial value.
Conclusion: We draw the conclusion that we will require a green and reasonably priced stabilizer to stabilize the desert dust based on the study we have done and the analysis of the papers that have been presented in this sector. Given the limitations and drawbacks of the aforementioned stabilizers, a good stabilizer doesn't destroy the soil's vegetation, doesn't significantly alter the soil's color, texture, or chemical composition, and doesn't interfere with the roots' ability to breathe.

 

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Aims: The purpose of this study is to develop strategies for sustainable tourism development in the kavir of northeastern Kerman province.
Methods: The documentation and survey adopted to collect data, and 30 questionnaires collected by the Kerman Province Tourism Organization based on the snowball method. Data analysis was analyzed by SWOT matrix and QSPM matrix.
Findings: Based on the obtained results, it was concluded that among the importance of internal factors, among the strengths, the highest priority is related to the indicators of "regional road safety" with a score of 19.33; And the index of "having unique natural landscapes" with a score of 10.93 is less important in the eyes of experts among the strengths. Among the weaknesses of the index "low quality of service facilities" with a score of 18 is the most important internal weaknesses. Further analysis of external factors scores showed that among the opportunities, the highest priority is related to the index "growing trend of desert tourism activities" with a score of 18.40. The "lack of attention to tourism development in desert areas in policy-making" index with a score of 19.20 is the most important environmental threat.
Conclusion: The situation of sustainable tourism development in the northeast of Kerman province is in an aggressive state and this situation is due to the dominance of internal strengths over internal weaknesses and environmental opportunities over environmental threats. The conclusion highlights the role of green tourism in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

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This paper investigates the effects of constructional elements on the biomechanical behavior of desert locust hind wing. First, the microstructure of the insect wing is investigated using scanning electron microscope. The results of the scanning electron microscopy are used to develop finite element models of the wing with different constructional elements. The presented models are studied under the inertial and aerodynamic loads applied during flight and the obtained stresses and displacements are assessed. The results show that longitudinal veins, longitudinal and cross veins, corrugations, corrugations and longitudinal veins and finally a combination of corrugations and longitudinal and cross veins cause averagely 4, 25.75, 4.34, 184.54, 768.5 times decrease of the achieved principal stresses in comparison with a wing without the mentioned constructional elements. Constructional elements of the locust wing play an important role to uniform the pattern of stress distribution in the wing during flight. Further, the existence of the mentioned constructional elements causes a decrease in the variation of the stress within a stroke-cycle. In addition, it is shown that the inertia and aerodynamic forces have less effect on the wing deformation than the elastic ones. The results of this research may be helpful in the development of lightweight structures with high strength.

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 Roots of Helianthemum species were collected from various rangeland sites in Fars, and other provinces in Iran. The partial small subunits of ribosomal DNA genes were amplified with the genomic DNA extracted from their roots by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the universal fungal primer pair ITS1/ITS4 and specific primer pair FTC/RTC, which was designed based on internal transcribed spacer 1, 2 and 5.8S gene of rDNA sequences of Terfezia claveryi. The nested-PCR was sensitive enough to re-amplify the direct-PCR product, resulting in a DNA fragment of 500 bp. The efficacy of the nested-PCR showed that it could re-amplify the direct-PCR product and detect 2fg genomic DNA. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was analyzed using the two restriction enzymes Hinf I and Alu I. Nucleotides sequence analysis revealed that the sequences from infected Helianthemum species were close to those of T. claveryi. With the nested PCR method, H. lipii and H. salicifolium were confirmed as host plants of T. claveryi in greenhouse inoculated plants and also in the rangelands of different areas in Fars and other provinces inIran.

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