reza hemmati

This study aims to explore the women experiences through establishing small family businesses. Despite the increasing emphasis on family businesses and their global expansion—and even the growing body of Iranian research on various aspects of such enterprises— few studies have examined the role of women, their motivations for entering this business type, the associated challenges and opportunities, and its broader implications for women. This study seeks to address this research gap.

Employing a qualitative research design, this study utilised thematic analysis as its primary methodological approach. The research was conducted in Isfahan, focusing on small local family businesses. Due to the lack of comprehensive statistics regarding their number, quality, and geographical distribution, purposive and snowball sampling techniques were employed to identify participants. This was facilitated through direct engagement in ets selling home-based business products in Isfahan. The study participants comprised 40 women operating in three distinct sectors: food, clothing, and handicrafts. These women held primary responsibility for their businesses and conducted their economic activities alongside at least one family member, relative, or non-relative, either within or outside the home. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, conducted in person or via telephone, and analysed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-step thematic analysis framework with the assistance of MaxQDA software. Standard validation techniques were applied to ensure the reliability of the findings. Furthermore, all phases of data collection and analysis adhered strictly to ethical considerations and the protection of participants' rights.

The results indicated that starting a family business stemmed from a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. The most significant intrinsic motivations for women were personal interest and enthusiasm, as well as educational and family background. The primary extrinsic motivations included the need for financial survival, profit-making through identified opportunities, and the flexibility offered by this business model. The findings further revealed that women's entry into the economic arena through small family businesses presents a dual-faced reality; while it provides advantages and opportunities, it also introduces significant challenges. Nevertheless, most participants believed that engaging in small family businesses enhanced their sense of empowerment and improved their quality of life across economic, social, and psychological dimensions.

Based on the study's findings, it can be concluded that the initiation of small family businesses by women is a dynamic and multifaceted phenomenon driven by a blend of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Although this entrepreneurial path entails specific challenges, the support network provided by the family and the inherent flexibility of the business model create a platform where its empowering outcomes ultimately outweigh the difficulties. These outcomes position women as active and effective participants in both family and community economies.These outcomes position women as active and effective participants in both family and community economies.

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Iranian Cancer Control Charity (MACSA) in improving the resilience of those in need of treatment in Isfahan. The present study was conducted with a mixed method and a sequential exploratory design. Considering the social construction of resilience and to prevent the imposition of preconceived concepts in other cultural contexts, a qualitative study was first conducted to understand the meaning and concept of resilience with 10 treatment clients referring MACSA. These clients were from the deprived and underprivileged classes of Isfahan and were selected for interviews using a purposive sampling method. Subsequently, based on the themes obtained, a quantitative study was conducted in the form of a face-to-face survey among 150 of the clients. Resilience for the clients is characterized by concepts such as the meaning and concept of illness, the struggle for survival, hope, reliance on social support, psychological reactions to illness, maintaining dignity and self-reliance, the ability to accept and adapt, and reliance on spirituality. In addition, from the clients’ perspective, the services provided by MACSA had a great impact on improving their resilience components. NGOs and charities active in the field of treatment should continuously evaluate the effectiveness of their services in order to increase accountability and transparency and improve performance. In this regard, in addition to paying attention to the treatment, they should pay attention to improving the clients’ resilience and increasing their individual (mental and physical) and social abilities to adapt to the illness and improve the quality of life.

Local Islamic councils, as the representative entities of urban and rural governance, have generated novel opportunities for women’s political and social participation; however, their presence remains limited and constrained by structural barriers. This study employs semi-structured interviews with 17 women councilors in Isfahan Province who were selected through purposive sampling to explore and interpret their experiences after entering the councils. Using thematic analysis supported by MAXQDA software, four main themes were identified: (1) the council as a chllanging field; (2) navigating institutional pressures while simultaneously relying on support networks; (3) strategic orientation along a continuum from passive adaptation to agentic resistance; and (4) positioning women at the center of attention. The findings reveal that the male-dominated composition of the councils and profoundly embedded gender norms create an institutional environment in which women encounter role pressures, doubts about their competence, gender stereotypes, and marginalization from decision-making processes. These dynamics intensifyexacerbate the conflicts between family and organizational responsibilities and amplify the ongoing demand to prove their capabilities, thereby increasing stress and role fatigue. Despite these constraints, women engage in strategies such as networking, negotiation, incremental resistance, and prioritizing the practical requirements of women in their communities to reshape decision-making spaces and enhance gender sensitivity in local policies.However, the transformative impact of such agency remains limited within patriarchal institutional structures. Strengthening women’s effective participation ultimately requires institutional reforms and greater representation of women in higher levels of local governance.

Drawing on investigations conducted on the relative adequacy of the various types of scaffolding strategies in SL/FL learning, this study investigated the relative efficacy of “formal practice” as a cognitive scaffolding strategy, “reflection and monitoring” as metacognitive scaffolding strategies, and “note-taking” as a cognitive non-scaffolding strategy for the EFL learners’ listening comprehension development. To this aim, a total of 90 EFL students from two different language institutes in Dorood (Lorestan province, central Iran) were chosen using convenience sampling procedure. The sample was conveniently assigned into three groups of 30 EFL learners and the relevant treatments were given to the groups for 15 sessions. The statistical analyses indicated that reflection and monitoring metacognitive scaffolding strategies significantly enhanced the listening comprehension development of EFL learners. As for the qualitative phase, the most frequent types of cognitive and metacognitive scaffolding strategies applied by the peers and teachers were explored through a semi-structured interview. The content analysis of the interview data indicated that the learners and teachers found reflection and monitoring scaffolding strategies as the most frequently used and effective procedures. An implication of the findings might be that in comparison to cognitive scaffolding and non-scaffolding strategies, metacognitive scaffolding strategies are empirically verified and attitudinally confirmed to be quite efficacious for the development of listening comprehension among EFL learners in an emotionally positive and constructive atmosphere.

In recent decades, the massification of higher education and its integration into everyday life have resulted in the return of diverse groups, distinct from traditional students, to universities. This development has transformed universities into multigenerational environments characterized by diverse age, culture, and motivation. The aim of this research is to qualitatively analyze the challenges and issues faced by adult women who have re-entered universities to continue their education while simultaneously fulfilling family and professional roles.
This study employed a qualitative approach, grounded in the dual theoretical perspectives of "gendered organizations" and "greedy institutions." Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 female students pursuing master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Isfahan. Participants were selected via purposive sampling, and interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. The collected data were subsequently analyzed using thematic analysis, following Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-step approach, with the assistance of MAXQDA software. Furthermore, to ensure the quality and rigor of the findings, the established qualitative research criteria were observed.
Following an analysis of the data, three central themes were identified: 1) Institutional and environmental challenges refer to the obstacles and challenges that non-traditional adult women face in the domains of family, work, and university, making their return to university an unpleasant experience. 2) Feelings of burnout and balancing represent a complex and dynamic internal conflict in which students oscillate between a continuum of burnout and growth. 3) Coping and activism strategies are a set of conscious, creative, and sometimes radical actions that participants take to overcome institutional challenges and manage negative emotions.
The results of this study demonstrate that the primary challenge for non-traditional adult students is not "individual and attitudinal," but rather "situational" and predominantly "institutional and structural," which intensifies the conflict between their roles and complicates their identity transition. In fact, the core issue lies not in individual incapability, but in the mismatch between existing structures and the life realities of this student group. They are engaged in a constant struggle with the gendered and greedy structures of social institutions—family, workplace, and university—and strive to adapt to the challenges within each of these spheres by relying on various strategies and managing their emotions. The present study emphasizes the necessity of rethinking educational and organizational policies, moving toward flexible and highly inclusive universities, developing curricula aligned with the life realities of these students, and promoting organizational cultures sensitive to their other social responsibilities.

With the development theorists welcoming new issues and also increasing attention to the role and efficiency of the government institution since the 1990s, issues such as "Good Governance" became the top of the interests of relevant researchers. In Iran, since the last two decades, a large number of studies in various fields of human sciences have been dedicated to the role and importance of good governance.

The present research was carried out with the aim of deeper understanding of the content of these studies as well as evaluating their results.

In order to achieve the mentioned goal by using the systematic review method, after identifying more than 150 related articles in internal databases, 30 articles published in the last fifteen years (2006-2021) were selected as samples.

The results indicated that most domestic researchers were interested in analyzing this issue at the "national" level. In addition, among the components of good governance, "efficiency and effectiveness" has been the focus of researchers more than other components. The evaluation of the studies from a methodological point of view also showed that most of the researches in measuring and analyzing good governance have made a lot of effort to use valid indicators and tools at the global level. The analysis of solutions and suggestions contained in the articles has also shown attention to the role of both "government" and "society" in improving the governance situation.

According to the findings of the research, it can be said that half of the conducted studies lacked any definite strategy or suggestion. Also, the researchers' little attention to the context and cultural context in the study of good governance has been another shortcoming in these studies.

Ghostwriting has emerged as an international underground industry over the past few decades, posing a significant threat to the quality and reputation of universities worldwide. In Iran, this issue has become increasingly concerning, particularly in recent years. Ghostwriting often referred to as contract cheating represents a form of academic misconduct that undermines the integrity and standards of higher education, as well as the credibility of academic institutions. Generally, ghostwriting involves the access, purchase, exchange, or trade of written work, where the completion—either in whole or in part—is provided to a third party. Research on this topic in Iran is limited and even fewer studies have focused specifically on ghostwriters themselves. Consequently, the primary aim of this research was to investigate the motivations behind participation in ghostwriting, its consequences, and the mechanisms that facilitate its formation and proliferation. In other words, this study sought to fill a critical research gap by exploring the motivations of ghostwriters involved in the preparation and compilation of student theses, as well as the contextual factors contributing to the emergence of this phenomenon.

This study employed a qualitative approach, utilizing purposive sampling to select participants. The sample consisted of 15 graduate students from master's and doctoral programs at various universities and higher education institutions in the country, all of whom engaged in writing theses for clients in exchange for a fee. Most participants were unemployed and worked as lecturers at different universities. Data were collected through in-person and online semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed using thematic analysis. The interviewer aimed to conduct the interviews in a safe, comfortable, and quiet environment to ensure the collection of significant information without distractions. Interviews began with general questions before progressing to more specific and relevant inquiries to elicit critical information. To facilitate deeper understanding, exploratory questions, such as “Could you please elaborate” and “Can you provide an example from your own experience” were also included. Each interview lasted approximately 90 minutes.

The analyzed data revealed several significant motivations for ghostwriting. According to the findings, the primary incentive for college graduates to write dissertations for others was financial gain, which offered an avenue for income and financial independence. Financial pressures and the inability to secure employment could drive individuals to make choices that, while not morally justifiable, appeared financially appealing. Additionally, most participants identified a lack of job opportunities as a key motivation for becoming ghostwriters. Unemployment, economic strain, and feelings of social frustration, along with mental and emotional exhaustion, uncertainty, and a bleak outlook on the future, were factors that could explain the graduates' inclination to engage in ghostwriting. The second motivation identified was a desire for revenge against the education system, which was perceived as having contributed to their adverse circumstances. Many ghostwriters attributed their plight to misguided decisions made by educational institutions, such as the push for massification. This sentiment had resulted in psychological traumas, including depression, isolation, and frustration among participants. The third motivation related to the market dynamics surrounding thesis writing, which encouraged both students and ghostwriters to participate. The findings also indicated that ghostwriters often concealed their identities, using pseudonyms. This created a paradox where they experienced both satisfaction and dissatisfaction with their work. While some viewed ghostwriting as a mission or duty that assisted students in graduating, for most, the primary drivers remained unemployment and financial necessity. Ultimately, the persistence and expansion of this phenomenon could be attributed to the commodification of the thesis. The proliferation of ghostwriting served the interests of both parties involved and the market that had emerged around it. The students were relieved of the pressure to complete their theses, while the unemployed graduates found a source of income through this practice.

Resilience is not a new concept; however, its use in international development has increased. Currently, resilience is used in many fields, including humanitarian and emergency interventions, disaster risk management, security threats, livelihood analysis, urban development, and environmental sustainability. The most common terms associated with the concept of resilience are adversity, stress, adaptation, coping, risk factors, and protective factors (Mullin & Arce, 2008). Despite the increasing attention paid to resilience, there is still no fundamental consensus on its definition and operationalization. One factor that can have a destructive impact on the resilience of individuals and communities is poverty. Poverty is “the state or condition of being short or lacking money, goods, or means of support” in both relative and absolute meanings. Poverty in developed countries represents a set of social disadvantages that go beyond an absolute or relative lack of money and goods. Given that there is no clear definition of resilience (Luthar et al., 2000; Masten, 2007) and that resilience is a complex, multidimensional, and socially and culturally constructed construct, and on the other hand, to avoid predefined definitions, the present research aims to examine the meaning of resilience and its penetration into the mentality of beneficiaries who are supported and covered by charities due to poverty and unfavorable economic conditions. Understanding the concept of resilience in the context of this group of beneficiaries helps charity and community managers guide their actions in improving their resilience and helping them cope better with difficult life conditions.

This research employed inductive content analysis, a methodology where themes are closely tied to the data itself. The coding process is conducted without adhering to a pre-existing framework or theme template. Given the variety of interview types available, the researchers opted for the semi-structured/semi-open interview approach, which is widely used. The study sample comprised ten participants, selected through purposive sampling. These individuals were beneficiaries of active charitable organizations in Isfahan, receiving either monetary or non-monetary support from these institutions.

By analyzing the interviews, five general themes were obtained, which are: "The meaning and concept of life's suffering", "Reliance on support sources", "Maintaining dignity in difficult situations", "Responding to despair", and "Transition perspectives".

In recent years, NGOs and charities have paid special attention to resilience in their strategies. However, as mentioned, there is no clear definition of resilience because it is a complex, multidimensional construct with social and cultural construction. Therefore, in the present study, as an initial step, instead of using theoretical approaches and predefined concepts, an attempt was made to explore the meaning of resilience in the minds and experiences of respondents who have been supported and covered by charities due to poverty and unfavorable economic conditions. In general, the results of the study showed that for the participants, resilience refers to a set of internal characteristics and its combination with external characteristics. Resilience is not necessarily an individual matter but is intertwined with external and social support resources in their immediate environment, such as family and friends, and even governmental support organizations such as relief committees and non-governmental organizations such as charities. In addition, the participants had a variety of resources that helped them adapt well to their adverse economic conditions. Internal factors that help people be more resilient in the face of life's adversities and difficulties. Although most interviewees have experienced and continue to experience difficult lives, most of them were satisfied with their current situation due to a positive attitude towards life, patience and perseverance, reliance on spirituality, and learning from lessons.

Although all contemporary governments can be considered bureaucratic in a certain sense, experience has shown that bureaucracies exhibit varying qualities across different societies. Achieving a high quality of bureaucracy especially in developing countries requires the presence of diverse social, economic, political, and cultural conditions. This study, employing a comparative-qualitative approach and utilizing fuzzy-set logic methodology, investigates the causal conditions influencing the quality of bureaucracy across twenty developing countries worldwide. The findings from the necessity and sufficiency tests indicate that accountability, transparency, and oversight as components of political development alongside administrative reformism constitute sufficient conditions for attaining the quality of bureaucracy in developing nations. Bureaucratic autonomy, as a component of a capable state, is identified as a necessary condition for realizing this goal. Additionally, the results of the conjunctural causality test reveal that the combination of oversight, economic globalization, and the absence of a rentier economy along with either administrative reformism or bureaucratic autonomy forms a strong causal configuration for achieving the quality of bureaucracy. The consistency and overall coverage scores for this configuration were 0.95 and 0.62, respectively.

Dissertation outsourcing, a severe form of contract cheating and ghostwriting, poses a significant threat to academic integrity and the credibility of higher education both in Iran and globally. This issue has intensified over recent decades with the growth of the black market for dissertation writing in Iran, underscoring the need to explore its underlying motives. This qualitative study employed thematic analysis to investigate the experiences of 13 master's degree students from Isfahan universities who had entirely outsourced their dissertations. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Brown and Clarke's (2012) six-step approach. The findings were distilled into six main themes: “Meaningless thesis,” “Challenging daily life,” “Culture of cheating,” “Communication disorder,” “Learning challenges,” and “Decline of scientific values.” The results revealed that outsourcing stems from a complex interplay of individual factors (e.g., financial difficulties, inadequate research skills) and environmental factors (e.g., weak academic supervision, commodification of education). Unlike previous studies that concentrated on structural factors, this research delved into the lived experiences of students within the socio-cultural context of Iran using a qualitative approach, highlighting the influence of teacher-student relationships and the culture of cheating. The findings underscore the necessity to redefine the role of the thesis, enhance supervision, and instill scientific ethics to prevent such fraud. This study contributes to educational policy-making aimed at combating ghostwriting and lays the groundwork for future research on the role of technology and gender differences.

Despite the emphasis on the importance of participation in development programs led by NGOs, there is still a lack of effective communication between governments and NGOs. Although governments claim to promote partnerships and stakeholder influence, they often resist actual collaboration and fail to create effective partnerships. This poses a significant problem for development processes, as effective communication is essential for meaningful participation in development. In order to investigate this issue, the present research focused on the relationship between the government and NGOs, and how they work together. The study utilized the grounded theory method and conducted in-depth interviews with 33 secretaries from youth centers in Isfahan province. The findings highlighted that youth NGOs have become deeply embedded in the government. This embeddedness has raised concerns about the NGOs' ability to maintain their independence and long-term viability. Consequently, their experiences of collaborating with the government are perceived as temporary, reflecting the challenges posed by their embeddedness. Not only does the government set the boundaries for the activities of youth NGOs, but it also controls the way they interact with these organizations. Furthermore, the government adopts a narrow perspective towards NGOs, their members, how they operate, the success of their plans, and even their relationship with the government itself.

With a specific focus on youth non-governmental organizations in Isfahan province, this paper aims to demonstrate the way in which the NGOs, while maintaining their relationship with the government, ensure accountability not only to the government but also to their primary beneficiaries, namely, the society. This study utilized the grounded theory method and conducted in-depth interviews with 33 secretaries from youth centers in Isfahan province. The research findings reveal that NGOs uphold accountability towards various stakeholders through specific procedures. The multitude and variety of stakeholders' interests, which are often in conflict with each other, along with the constraints imposed by government agencies on NGOs, turns the process of floating the accountability into a strategy for creating a balance between the various axes of accountability and multiple layers of interests, and especially reserving downward accountability.

This research proposes a novel method for utilizing renewable energies in electric vehicle charging stations. In the proposed method, the required energy for charging the electric vehicles, the needed energy for supplying the cryptocurrency mining farm as well as the energy for supplying the critical loads of the upstream grid are afforded by 100% renewable resources, and the electric vehicle parking station (i.e., charging station) receives no energy from the utility grid. In this model, the uncertainty of renewable energies and the mismatch between generation and demand are resolved by optimal charging-discharging of electric vehicles. While the utility grid is available, the electric vehicles are fully charged, the cryptocurrency mining farm continues operation at full capacity, and excess renewable energy is sent to the upstream grid to supply the critical loads. The critical loads are supplied from two directions of the grid and parking station. During an outage or blackout of the utility grid, the critical loads are fully supplied by an electric vehicle parking station. In this situation, the cryptocurrency miners are modeled as a responsive load. In the off-grid operation, the proposed planning manages the energy of cryptocurrency miners as well as the charging-discharging pattern of electric vehicles for reaching two objectives of fully charging all the electric vehicles and fully supplying the critical loads. If there is any surplus of energy, it is used to run the cryptocurrency miners. In the proposed model, since no energy is received from the utility grid, the issues related to cryptocurrency mining are inconsequential. The objective function of the proposed method is to minimize the number of discharge cycles on electric vehicles to avoid battery degradation. The problem is formulated as mixed integer linear programming and solved by GAMS software. The wind and solar energy uncertainty are incorporated in the model and an optimal charging-discharging pattern is designed for electric vehicles to confirm feasible operation under all energy variations.

Despite the attention given to the quality of life and well-being of the general population, relatively little focus has been placed on the quality of life of refugees and immigrants. This lack of attention stems from the fact that enhancing one's quality of life is one of the main motivations for migration. Immigrants often encounter new and discriminatory social and economic circumstances, including marginalization, minority status, socio-economic disadvantages, loss of social support, psychological distress, and difficulties in assimilating to the host culture. These factors have a profound impact on the well-being and quality of life of immigrants. In general, the quality of life experienced by immigrants is influenced by a combination of factors, some of which are specific to the individual immigrants themselves, such as their education, job skills, and mental and physical health, and others that are related to the host society, such as its cultural and economic conditions and policies towards immigrants. The interaction between these individual and societal aspects significantly shapes the quality of life of immigrants. Despite numerous studies conducted on the migration of Afghans to Iran, which have encompassed various aspects, such as identity, security, demographics, employment, mental health, women's status, quality of urban life, residential patterns, economic impacts, societal integration barriers, social distance, and social networks, there remains a dearth of research on the quality of life experienced by Afghan immigrants in Iran. The findings from several conducted research studies are still inconsistent. Despite the fact that Afghan immigrants have been living in Isfahan for a long time and that this province has got the third rank in terms of accepting Afghan immigrants, there has been no independent research conducted to assess their quality of life. This is significant considering the various consequences it can have on both the immigrants and the host society. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the quality of life of Afghan immigrants in Isfahan, including its various dimensions. Additionally, the study aimed to identify and analyze the social factors that can have an impact on life quality, while trying to understand their influencing mechanisms.

The current research utilized descriptive-analytical and field survey approaches. The statistical population for this study consisted of Afghan immigrants aged 18 years and above, who were residing in Isfahan City. According to the population census of 2015 conducted by the Iran Statistics Center, there were a total of 1,831,224 Afghan nationals in Isfahan Province and 88,866 in Isfahan City (Statistics Center of Iran, 2015). Due to the logistical challenges and inability to reach all individuals across various cities, the research was confined to Isfahan City, particularly Zainabiyah Region, where the largest concentration of Afghan immigrants was found. The sample size was determined to be 330 individuals by using SPSS Sample Power software. After a thorough review and elimination of incomplete questionnaires, the total number of 321 completed questionnaires was selected for analysis.
For measurement of a variable, the World Health Organization's short scale consisting of 26 items was utilized. This scale encompassed 4 dimensions: physical health (7 items), mental health (5 items), social relations (6 items), and environmental health (8 items). The general questions were made regarding health status and quality of life. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for this variable was determined to be 0.84. To assess religiosity, 17 items were employed and categorized into 4 dimensions: belief (4 items), rituals (6 items), emotion (4 items), and consequences (3 items). Cronbach's alpha coefficient for this variable was estimated to be 0.86. The research items adopted by William et al. (1997) were employed to quantify the perception of discrimination. This 8-item scale has been extensively utilized in various countries to assess the perception of discrimination of immigrant groups. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for this variable was approximated at 0.85. To measure this variable, the "short scale of social integration" (Holland and Grühn, 2018) was utilized. This variable comprised 12 items, which were categorized into 4 dimensions: social support, social satisfaction, social participation, and instrumental support. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for this variable was estimated at 0.72.

According to the current research findings, it could be concluded that the majority of immigrants in Isfahan City had an average to high rate of quality of life, including psychological, social, environmental, and overall quality of life aspects with an average score of 3.35. More than 60% of the immigrants expressed satisfaction with their quality of life. The immigrants' satisfaction could be attributed to their modest expectations and the presence of cultural, religious, and linguistic similarities with Iranians. This had resulted in their satisfaction with living conditions in Iran, leading to a lack of desire to return to their home country. Furthermore, the respondents' overall assessment of quality of life supported the aforementioned assertion.
The findings of the present study aligned with those of other studies mentioned in the relevant literature, e.g., those of van der Boor et al. (2020) and Correa-Velez (2020), regarding social integration. Social integration generally leads to increased participation, solidarity, and creation of social capital, which positively impact immigrants’ quality of life and well-being. Engaging in social activities and taking social responsibility are crucial for achieving psychological and social balances. Trust and mutual respect play essential roles in building relationships. Various factors, including work environment, contribute to establishing these relationships. Work environment is particularly important for the immigrant community. Work relationships facilitate the integration process of immigrants into the host society as they shape immigrants’ "self and identity" within the community and provide opportunities for their social interactions. Additionally, due to religious similarities and homogeneity between Afghan immigrants and the people in our country, religion may influence social integration.
Religiosity was found to have a direct impact on the immigrants’ quality of life and an indirect effect through enhancing their social integration with the host society. Given that the majority of Afghan immigrants residing in Iran were Shiites, their religious similarity could facilitate their assimilation into the host society. This finding is in line with that of the research conducted by Sigert (2020). Additionally, Powell et al. (2000) indicated that engaging in religious organizations can enhance self-confidence and alleviate feelings of isolation and despair. Religiosity promotes the accumulation of social capital through participation in various religious rituals and possessing higher social capital is associated with an improved quality of life.
Perception of discrimination hinders social integration and detrimentally impacts the quality of life. Immigrants' perception of discrimination directly decreases their quality of life and impedes social integration. Social integration, in turn, reduces social division between immigrants and the receiving society. Discrimination against refugees comprises two dimensions: institutional discrimination enforced by the government and host society and non-institutional or social discrimination enforced by the broader society. In general, discriminatory actions and behaviors by governments or individuals, as well as the mental experience and perception of discrimination among immigrants, have a detrimental impact on their quality of life. The findings of this study revealed that the perception of discrimination indirectly diminished the quality of life for immigrants by hindering their social integration into the host society. Other studies have also demonstrated a significant negative correlation between the perception of discrimination and the related concepts of quality of life, such as well-being and contentment (e.g., Zhang et al., 2009; Kuppens & van den Broek, 2022; Bender et al., 2022). However, contrary to the theoretical model adopted by some previous research (e.g., Bender et al., 2022), no significant relationship between religiosity and perception of discrimination was discovered in the current study.
To gain a comprehensive understanding of the Afghan immigrant population in Iran, further investigations should be conducted from various perspectives. Specifically, it is recommended to carry out intergenerational studies to assess the quality of life and determine the levels of satisfaction among the first, second, and third generations of Afghan immigrants in Iran. Additionally, qualitative studies focusing on the quality of life experienced by Afghan immigrants will be beneficial.

The university classroom serves as a multifaceted setting that provides insights into the evolving landscape of higher education. In its most basic form, it offers a window through which one can comprehend the developments, transformations, and overall happenings within universities. To gain a comprehensive understanding of these shifts and evolutions, as well as intricacies of the university environment, the ideal starting point is observation of activities within university classrooms. The classroom serves as somewhere more than just a place for learning and teaching. It also functions as a social environment where students can form new relationships and enhance their communication skills, thereby shaping their identities and promoting their socialization. There is a growing body of evidence and research pointing to the crisis faced by university classrooms, the shift towards decentralization, and, in the extreme case, the "death of the classroom" or "death of the teacher" in the Iranian university system. Given the inadequate amount of research conducted in this area, the aim of this study was to provide a qualitative description of female students' experiences in relation to their attendance in university classrooms and their overall living condition in this educational and social setting.

Materials & Methods :

The research utilized a qualitative description approach. The study was conducted at Isfahan University, specifically targeting undergraduate female students majoring in sociology. The participants were selected based on three criteria: having enough experience, being female, and studying sociology. The purposive sampling method was employed to select the participants. The data were collected through in-person and online semi-structured interviews and analyzed by using thematic analysis.

Discussion of Results & Conclusion :

In the last one or two decades, Iran's university system has experienced a growing demand for admission, while being driven by global trends. As a consequence, university image and purpose have undergone significant changes. These transformations have had numerous implications for the classroom learning environment and have called into question the traditional meaning, concept, and functions of a university.The findings suggested that the university classrooms predominantly prioritized teacher's role rather than student's involvement. The teaching methods commonly employed in these classrooms were traditional and lacked a problem-solving approach, focusing more on surface learning rather than deep understanding. Many students, due to various reasons, tended to prefer being passive listeners during discussions and only occasionally engaged actively. This lack of participation, along with disinterest and detachment from the classroom environment, could be viewed as a form of resistanceagainst the ineffective nature of the educational system and an attempt to avoid learning. Many students lacked enthusiasm for group work and had a low level of cooperation, as well as sharing of knowledge and experience among each other. Furthermore, the connections between the students that fostered learning were minimal, inconsistent, and primarily non-cognitive. Additionally, the research findings revealed that the students were more content with their teachers’ social qualities of rather than their scientific expertise and teaching methods. This suggested a shift in the students' preferences and expectations in the classroom and towards their instructors.A large majority of students expressed their dissatisfaction with several aspects, such as the outdated nature of the course materials, minimal link between these materials and real-world issues, and lack of learning skills necessary for entering the labor market. Additionally, they found it challenging to comprehend the relevance of classroom subjects, particularly the general ones, to the wider society. This disconnection between the lessons taught and the labor market was prevalent. This demonstrated a significant shift in the purpose of the classroom, leading to the loss of its traditional educational and scientific nature. Furthermore, the job market now required university graduates to have updated skills, prompting students to question the relevance of the classroom to the society and seek knowledge and abilities elsewhere.Briefly, the utopian vision of the classroom had faded away with the crucial focus on learning and motivation being pushed aside. This shift could be attributed to various factors, which were both academic and non-academic factors, including the lack ofjob opportunities for graduates, lack of understanding about the labor market, and a sense of hopelessness. Consequently, the classroom's purpose as a place for the exchange of knowledge, learning, and social interaction had been decentralized with its role now primarily limited to certain social and cultural functions.The findings indicated that the university classrooms had encountered difficulties in serving as effective learning and teaching environments, as well as social spaces, falling short of the students' desired ideal classroom. These problems highlighted the importance of focusing on the changes in students' social and academic lives and utilizing a wider range of methods and ICT technologies outside the traditional classroom setting. This should be done to improve and transform students' learning and increasing the efficiency of higher education.

In this paper an off-grid microgrid, based on 100% renewable energy, integrated with an electric vehicle charging station, an electric vehicle parking station, and a demand-response program was modeled. The electric vehicle charging station operated based on a battery swapping model in order to charge the electric vehicles in the shortest time possible. The electric vehicle parking station was used to park vehicles during various hours of the 24-hour period. The vehicles inside the parking had to be fully charged by the microgrid when leaving the parking station. Since these vehicles were parked for several hours, their charging time was not limited, and they are charged by direct chargers rather than battery swapping. The loads of the microgrid were under a demand-response program, and they were curtailable, non-curtailable, shiftable, and interruptible loads. The only energy source of microgrid was solar PV systems; the solar-energy related issues such as zero energy during night, output power variations, and the possibility of losing the whole or a part of energy due to shade should be dealt with. In the proposed method, an optimal programming was applied to the charging-discharging of the swapping batteries in charging station, to the charging-discharging of electric vehicles in the parking station, and to the energy management of loads (i.e., curtailable, non-curtailable, shiftable, and interruptible loads). The mismatch of energy and the lack of solar energy were compensated by the discharging power from charging and parking stations as well as by the management of the power of loads. Simulation results demonstrated that the unavailability of solar energy during the night resulted in paying 50% of the daily revenue as penalty cost. During hours such as 7 to 19, when the solar energy was available, the plan used the solar power as much as possible and limited the extracted energy from other energy resources. The energy of shiftable loads was supplied mostly from 13 to 15 hours, when solar energy was at the maximum level.

Today, one of the prerequisites for sustainable development is the strengthening of the agricultural sector; because there is a close link between agriculture and sustainable development. The agricultural sector in the world has been subjected to serious environmental crises due to the transition from the traditional to the modern type. The purpose of this study is to analyze farmers' perceptions of conventional agriculture. The method used in this study is qualitative research and grounded theory strategy. A total of 33 semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection. Initially, 72 concepts were extracted; after turning them into more abstract concepts, 7 central categories were obtained. The high-risk agricultural code, as the final selection code, is a representation of farmers' perceptions of conventional agriculture. According to the results of the present study, the study of the causes and factors of knowledge and practice gap in the use of chemical inputs and typology of patterns of chemical fertilizers and pesticides can be useful in agricultural policy making.

This monograph studies and analyses the role of entrance exam institutions in the expansion and development of Neoliberal thought in the life area of the students ‘daily life. . In addition, special attention is paid to the genealogical study, the emergence of neoliberalism and the expansion of entrance exam institutions in post-war Iran, and to the spread of normalized market logic as a basis for decision-making and actions. The purpose of this article is to describe how the new cultural-economical order (neoliberalism) creates a "new scenario of subjectivity" (the exam subject) that did not exist before. This new scenario in relation to the rise of neoliberalism in Iran and to the hegemony of individually successful discourse has been formed. . The findings of this research using the method of the genealogy show that there is a special relationship between the rationality of neoliberal governance, subjectivity, and acceptance view of the entrance exam population. This similarity and connection are based on the case study of "Konkur Institutions", institutions that have caused the emergence of a new population and generation, called "Konkur Subject" in the society have their own way of life. After the end of the war, these institutions found a new identity and presented a mechanism of new socialization under the title of "Subject-Maker Apparatuses". These institutions, with the help of various new apparatuses, have falsified subjects and created a framework that included "Institution-Oriented" actions to persuade and encourage students to internalize the values and beliefs of the neoliberalism system..

Communication technologies have become an integral part of life today. Among these, mobile phones have had a significant impact on the personal and social lives of young people, especially university students. The purpose of this study is to describe the meaning of mobile from the perspective of users' experiences based on an interpretive research method. Participants in this study were 15 female students of the University of Isfahan who were selected for an interview through purposive sampling. Based on the analysis of the interviews, two main categories (reciprocal subjectivity and mobile paradox) and five sub-categories (mobile identification, the birth of virtual-self, non-mobile phobia, creating opportunities, and constraining opportunities) were identified in students' experiences of mobile. Findings showed that the understandings of female students of mobile are more than just a means of communication. By establishing two-way communication with mobile, users use its facilities to redefine their identity in cyberspace and sometimes prefer virtual identity over their real self. The attractiveness of mobile and its overuse, in addition to creating dependence on mobile, has made this device a substitute for face-to-face communication. Meanwhile, users tried to justify their dependence by giving a personality to the mobile phone and having a human-like definition of it in their minds. Finally, from the perspective of students' experiences, mobile, in addition to creating various opportunities and capacities, also has many negative implications. These contradictions have caused a dual and paradoxical image of mobile in the minds of users.

This study is reflects on the relationship between cultural values and entrepreneurial attitudes. Cultural context and values play a substantial role in shaping the attitudes and beliefs of individuals, and the research literature indicates that there are major differences between countries in terms of entrepreneurship, part of which can be explained by cultural values. This study was conducted as a survey on 354 undergraduate and graduate students of soft and pure applied fields who were sampled from the University of Isfahan and Yasuj. The results showed that there is a significant difference in terms of entrepreneurial attitudes between these two groups of students. However, with regards to the cultural values, no significant difference was seen between these two groups. Also, structural equation modelling (SEM) showed that uncertainty avoidance, collectivism and femininity have a negative and power distance has a positive effect on entrepreneurial attitudes. Finally, implications for policy, practice, and further research are discussed.

Classification and analysis of why types and genres of Persian poetry is one of the important literary debates. Unfortunately, the field of poetry of the seventies, which had the most influential contemporary poetic currents; It has been abandoned in this regard. In the seventies of Iran, we see the simultaneous presence of three independent branches of Americanists, Europeanists and return avant-garde with different origins, each of which has played an important role in guiding the intellectuals and poets of the seventies and later periods.The Americans announced their presence in Iran with Reza Braheni and the postmodern movement. Braheni's "Poetry of Language", Ali Babachahi's "Pasanimai" and the students of Brahen's workshop, as well as Mohammad Azram's "Different" poetry in the eighties are in this group. Europeanists were active in this period with two branches of lyricism and free poetry. In the lyric branch with Simin Behbahani, the founder of "New Ghazal", "Ghazal Dastan" and "Ghazal Narrative" and also the flow of Simin Behbahani's students in "Ghazal Form" with Mohammad Saeed Mirzaei, Arash Azarpik, Hooman Azizi, Amir Marzban and ..., In free poetry, the flow of "movement poetry" of Abolfazl Pasha is a follower of the Baroque school in this group. Returning avant-gardeists came to the fore with its founder, Arash Azarpik, with the beginning of the era of nudism and the proclamation of the millennium of nudism in the history of thought. The result of Arash Azarpik's attitude is a variety of genres, including "Vajaneh",

The trend of transferring and attracting foreign students as the main key of globalization and internationalization of higher education indicates an increase in the number of students who go to study in other countries in the last two decade. Due to the many benefits and positive consequences of attracting foreign students, there is a global competition among universities to attract foreign students by increasing the quality of college life and student satisfaction in terms of educational, social, services and facilities. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the quality of university life of foreign students at the University of Isfahan and explain some determinants. This research was conducted as a survey using a questionnaire among all foreign students of the University of Isfahan. The findings indicated the relative (moderate to high) satisfaction of foreign students with the educational, social and services and facilities of the University of Isfahan. Also, the results confirmed the relationship among academic, social and facilities dimensions and their effect on overall satisfaction with the quality of university life and student life satisfaction. In addition, findings showed that academic success and academic communication directly, and academic motivation and burnout indirectly affect the foreign student’s quality of college life. More attention should be paid to cultural and social activities such as extracurricular activities inside the university or outside the university in the form of recreational camps and visits to cultural, artistic, tourism centers, improving the facilities granted.

This paper presents a new algorithm for validation (identification and correction) of measurement and parameter errors (branch parameters as well as unified power flow controller (UPFC) parameters), simultaneously. The algorithm is composed of three steps. First, in the step 1, state estimation (SE) is solved by the modified weighted least square (MWLS) and then, the normalized measurement residual and Lagrange multiplier vectors are computed. The errors in measurement and parameter are identified in the step 2. Finally, in the step 3, erroneous measurement and parameter values are corrected. The correction algorithm is based on a proposed approach without the using of augmented state vector (ASV). The IEEE-14 bus system and 230 kV East Azerbaijan network of Iran modified by incorporating UPFC are used as test systems. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Also, results indicate that the proposed method can validate the erroneous values with lower error percentage

Academic socialization as a process of creating and developing an internal commitment to the norms and values of the academic and academic arena is one of the basic pillars of the production and distribution of science. In other words, science is governed by norms, values and standards that cannot be realized and sustained if members of the scientific community fail to comply. The importance of addressing academic community, in addition to its role in the production of science and the promotion of knowledge, is also important in terms of assessing the quality of universities. In the issue of the quality of universities and higher education institutions, evaluating the mentality of stakeholders involved in education and research is one of the pillars of quality in higher education, without which it would not be possible to assess quality properly and comprehensively. The present study aimed to investigate the Academic Socialization of students and its effective factors in universities of the country. Based on the quantitative approach and internet survey, 482 graduate students from 5 universities of Tehran, Tarbiat Modares, Shahid Beheshti, Shiraz and Ferdowsi have been collected. The results of this study indicate that the general status of academic socialization of graduate students in the five universities studied in the quadruple dimensions of the role of graduate student, role conflict, participation, investment, and professional identity perceptions based on the desirability range. Also, based on structural equation modeling, academic capital and academic self-efficacy have the most impact on academic socialization of graduate students.

In Iran, after the Islamic Revolution, the discourse of development was aligned with the discourse of the revolution. The promises of the revolution to eliminate deprivation and to pay attention to the oppressed had a special focus on the rural areas, and the schools of development emerged with the same promise. During this period, governments were primarily responsible for designing and implementing rural development programs. This article tries to analyze the discourse of each government and the relationship it has with the rural element. In this research, the theoretical perspective of the critical theory in general and revisionist approaches in development, especially the post-development theory, have been used. The purpose of this article is to describe the dominant discourses in the fifth to tenth governments and the position of the rural element in the territory of each discourse. The study also seeks to answer these questions: What are the differences and commonalities in the discourses of post-revolutionary governments How is the construction of development in post-revolutionary governments in the field of rural development What effect did the discourses of post-revolutionary governments have on the models chosen for rural development  

Methodologically, this research is based on the principles of Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory and the operational stages of Post-foundational Discourse Analysis (PDA). According to this approach, in this study, the discourse of rural development has been theoretically conceptualized in three steps: (1) Co-construction (2) Reconstruction (3) Collocation. The president is intended to represent the discourse of that government. The texts used in this research are purposefully-selected lectures and interviews of three presidents. In the selection, texts have been considered that include three directions: 1) texts that show the main orientations and policies of each president, 2) texts that mention development and planning in general, and 3) texts in which rural development is specifically addressed. Three speeches were selected from each president, and after studying all the speeches and interviews of the presidents related to these three axes, a text was selected from each axis that is closest to the objectives of this research. Then, the results of the analysis in the texts of the first to fifth five-year development plans prepared by these governments have been validated and reviewed in the sections related to the rural area. 

The results of this analysis show that no discourse has been able to absorb the rural element without any defects. In any discourse, the existence of the limiting and influential factors has seriously damaged the formation of a complete and strong relationship between the rural element and the central nodal point. In the analysis of the Hashemi government's discourse in the rural area, the central role of improving physical and external conditions can be recognized, and this shows that the rural area is within the discourse of the government. But this relationship cannot be considered complete without any flaws. In this area, the discourse has acted contrary to its principles. Perceptions of rural backwardness, land ownership, and the inability of private capitalism to play a role in this area are elements that have hampered the full and comprehensive formation of this inter-discourse relationship. Also, the need for infrastructure work and the existence of a strong institution such as Jihad-Sazandegi encourages the government to play a direct role in this area, a role that has been avoided in other areas. For this reason, the formed relationship can be considered as distorted and heterogeneous. The rural sphere in the discourse of Khatami's government is in the realm of discourse and cannot be assumed outside it. Still, at the same time, two categories of elements in this regard are effective within the discourse: elements that contribute to the discourse close to the rural sphere, and elements that weaken this relationship and remove it from the discourse. This causes the discourse not to be able to function effectively in this area in a coordinated manner with other areas. The rural area in the discourse of the Khatami government has not been able to meet the conditions for the adoption of discourse policies fully. It indicates the loss of opportunities in which the rural area could have benefited from macro-policies, but these communication problems have made this benefit incomplete. However, the rural area has a better and more effective relationship with the realm of discourse in the Khatami period than the Hashemi period. In the rural area, the discourse of Ahmadinejad's government is the most relevant to all the discourses of previous governments. The central nodal point of this discourse focuses directly on the rural area. Improving the distribution of wealth and facilities has directly made the rural area one of its main goals. In this way, the rural sphere is completely and perfectly in the realm of discourse, and the connection that the elements of discourse, especially its central nodal point, make with this sphere as a complete connection. Therefore, the Ahmadinejad government's discourse in attracting the rural sphere in its discourse is the most successful president among its predecessors, and there is a strong and two-way connection between the rural sphere and the central nodal point of the Ahmadinejad government's discourse. But one of the weaknesses of the discourse of Ahmadinejad's government is that it has not been able to consider both internal and external dimensions in the rural area. It can be said that problems arising from development programs do not necessarily mean that they are implemented incorrectly but can be due to the foundations of the development discourse itself. Accordingly, in the present study, the authors have considered the foundations that go beyond the method of implementation or apparent approaches. Due to these problems, the discourses cannot deal comprehensively with the issues of rural communities, and their effectiveness should be questioned. On the other hand, the results of this analysis show that the development discourse, especially in development planning, cannot be neutral. Due to its discursive nature, development cannot move towards the goals set in the programs without any interference. Goals that are themselves influenced by the development discourse. We are now faced with a phenomenon that is at the forefront of discourse at all stages, including understanding the world around us, evaluating current conditions, setting goals and patterns, and determining ways to achieve these goals. As a result, policymakers who determine the direction of development use it to dominate their discourse.