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Climate change impacts occur at varying spatial scales requiring appropriately scaled responses. In impoverished rural areas, adapting to or mitigating the effects of climate change is challenging, with any short-term impairment to precarious livelihoods likely triggering negative community responses even if people are aware of long-term benefits. The paper will discuss a community-based carbon sequestration project in eastern Iran. It started in 2003 and since then has been expanded widely. It was nominated by UNDP as one of 10 transformative projects in Asia/Pacific in 2016. Over the past 20 years, the project has targeted improving the livelihood of the local communities while addressing local measures to adapt to/mitigate climate change. The paper elaborates on the formation of village development groups as pivotal drivers of success by highlighting local income-generating schemes and project documentation. Key lessons for climate change adaptation can be learnt and are applicable to other developing countries. Extreme poverty in rural areas facing climate change could be tackled through implementing bottom-up approaches in which local communities can be respected and engaged in co-leadership and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on analyzing the composing elements of the water governance regime in the Hirmand River Basin, Iran, this paper examines the factors that facilitate the emergence of Adaptive Governance in a Global South context. Although the literature provides valuable insights into the characteristics of a well-established Adaptive Governance regime in the context of the Global North, relatively little research has been conducted on Adaptive Governance's fostering factors in the states in the Global South. To address this gap, this study utilizes an analytical framework upon which the features of water governance regimes are assessed. A combination of primary and secondary qualitative data (survey research and document analysis) is used to evaluate the assessment framework, which aims to analyze the characteristics that enhance resilience to the imposed changes and disturbances in complex environmental and water systems. The analysis suggests that addressing scalar and sectoral tensions, well-functioning reflecting mechanisms, adaptable policies, and flexible financial mechanisms are vital requisites for the transition towards more adaptive forms of water governance. The results also propose that the formal water governance system in the region has felt the urgency to adapt to new circumstances; however, unlike cases from the Global North, it lacks the required agility to escape from the rigidity trap it finds itself in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explore the respective risk perception toward the Covid-19 pandemic among the elderly in two developing countries and their lifestyle change and adaptation behavior as a result of that. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 22 in-depth interviews were conducted among people aged 60 to 85 in Iran and India. The interview guideline was based on two constructs inspired by the study of Gerhold (2020) – risk perception of the pandemic and change in lifestyle and adaptation to the pandemic situation. Findings: The results showed that although the majority of the interviewees initially experienced fear and anxiety during the stay-at-home order and the pandemic situation at large, they quickly adapted to the new situation with behavioral and attitudinal changes in ways relevant to the new normal. The results confirmed the maturation hypothesis proposed by Knight et al. (2000). Originality/value: This paper is an original study of the researchers and among the first contributing to the literature of the elderly studies in developing countries. It contributes to the knowledge required for future behavioral studies concerning the Covid-19 pandemic by evaluating the experiences, risk perception and adaptation approaches of the older people in India and Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: According to World Health Organization (WHO), the postnatal care provision aims to provide care and treatment with the highest quality and the least intervention to obtain the best health and well-being for the family. The present study aims to adapt international guidelines for the clinical recommendations for the postpartum period and implement and determine its effectiveness. Methods/design: This study will be done in two phases. In the first phase, international clinical guidelines for mother and newborn postnatal care will be adapted. The second phase is a randomized controlled trial in which the adapted guideline recommendations will be implemented, and maternal and neonatal outcomes will be measured. The ADAPTE method for adaptation of clinical guidelines, is usedg in the first phase. A systematic review was conducted in the databases and clinical guidelines related to postpartum care were extracted according to the inclusion criteria. The quality of clinical guidelines was evaluated using the AGREE-II tool. The WHO clinical guideline obtained the highest evaluation score and was chosen as the main guideline, and the NICE clinical guideline, with a second higher evaluation score, was also used to fill some gaps in the WHO guideline. Based on the pre-determined questions, recommendations will be sent to the relevant experts and stakeholders for their evaluation. After the external evaluation and the finalization of the recommendations, the postpartum clinical guideline will be compiled and used in the second phase of the study. In the second phase, 272 women in the immediate postnatal stage of the maternity and postpartum ward of Taleghani and AL-Zahra Hospitals in Tabriz will be assigned into the intervention (receiving care based on adapted guidline recommendations) and control (receiving routine hospital care) groups uing individual stratified block randomization. At 6 weeks after birth, we will complete the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale, postpartum specific anxiety scale and Barkin index of maternal functioning (to assess the primary outcomes), as well as a maternal health problems checklist, infant care behavior, and violence assessment questionnaires (to asses the seconadary outcomes). Further, the maternal health problems checklist and the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale will be completed in the second week after birth. The data will be analyzed using an independent t-test and ANCOVA. Discussion: It is expected that the implementation of evidence-based clinical guidelines improves maternal and neonatal outcomes and experience of the postpartum period. The positive experience can also help to achieve Iran's population policies and the need to increase childbearing in the country. Trial registration: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT): IRCT20120718010324N76; Date of registration: 27/1/2023. URL: https://en.irct.ir/user/trial/66874/view; Date of first registration: 27/3/2023. Plain language summary: The postpartum period, starting immediately after childbirth up to the first six weeks (42 days), is a significant and critical period in the lives of mothers and newborns, spouses, caregivers, and families. Maternal and newborn deaths and complications are high during the postpartum period. Postpartum care with high quality could reduce maternal and newborn deaths and complications, and makes the mother have a positive childbirth experience and a favourable attitude toward her next birth. World Health Organization (WHO) recommend providing medical care and treatment with the highest quality and the least intervention to obtain the best health and well-being conditions for the family. The present study aims to localize and use the international recommendations for the postpartum period in Iran. This study will be done in two phases. In the first phase, the international recommendations for mother and newborn care and postnatal well-being will be adapted according to our country's resources and conditions. In the second phase, the recommendations of adapted guideline will be implemented on 272 mothers and newborn in two groups in the maternity and postpartum ward of Taleghani and AL-zahra Hospitals in Tabriz, and we compare the result of using these recommendations and routine care on mothers' and newborns' well-being. In clinical guideline recommendations group, we will educate mothers, fathers and families and will share with them adapted recommendations, up to 6 weeks after birth and we will support them via the network. During the postpartum period we will assess mental and physical health problems of the mothers; counsel about breastfeeding, baby care, family planning, nutrition, activity, pain killer, bonding and emotional attachment, and prevention of postpartum depression; and any questions will be answered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses serious challenges for populations whose livelihoods depend principally on natural resources. Given the increases in extreme weather events projected to adversely affect the arid and semi-arid regions of Iran, adaptation of the agricultural sector is imperative. Few studies have addressed the farmers' adaptation in Iran, and little is known about ongoing adaptation strategies in use. Adopting principal component analysis/fuzzy logic-based method, this paper considers the agricultural adaptation to climate variability. A survey of 255 farmers of Fars Province, selected through a multistage stratified random sampling method, revealed different levels of adaptation, specifically the low, moderate and high, which are principally distinguished by various degrees of sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The study also identified the main adaptation strategies used by farmers in response to climate-related shocks. Results indicated that although a large percentage of farmers make some adjustments to their farming practices, there are significant differences in choice of adaptation strategies by the adaptation categories. Some conclusions and recommendations are offered to increase the adaptive capacity of farmers and reduce negative impacts of climate variability and change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant diseases are considered one of the main factors reducing yield and quality of crops, which are constantly developing and creating more virulent races and cause the resistance of more genes to break. Identifying resistance sources and including them in breeding programs will improve resistant genotypes. Rhizomania is the most common, widespread, and devastating disease of sugar beet in Iran and worldwide. Breeding genotypes with disease resistance genes is one of the most important ways to deal with this destructive disease. Twenty sugar beet genotypes along with five controls were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with four replications in rhizomania‐infected conditions in four regions of Mashhad, Shiraz, Miandoab, and Hamedan for 2 years. The results of genotypic reaction to rhizomania showed that the genotypes with resistance reaction were much more frequent than those with susceptibility reaction. The analysis of multiplicative effects of the AMMI model showed that the first six components were significant and explained 98.80% of the interaction variations. The biplot obtained from the mean white sugar yield and the first interaction principal component confirmed the superiority of the RM5 genotype due to its high white sugar yield and stability in infected conditions. The results obtained from the first three principal components biplot showed that the RM9 genotype with a mean white sugar yield of 11.91 t. ha−1 was a genotype with vast general stability in all disease‐infected environments. Based on the results of the MTSI index, RM3, RM17, RM9, RM13, and RM15 are introduced as stable genotypes under rhizomania‐infected conditions. In conclusion, it seems that the studied genotypes have valuable and useful genes inherited from their parents to deal with rhizomania disease. Applying these genotypes in sugar beet breeding programs can effectively prevent the threat of rhizomania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population growth and increasing demand for water have posed a significant challenge to access to safe water resources. Climate change and land use in the not-too-distant future add to the complexity of this challenge. Therefore, it is essential to achieve reliable methods for predicting changes in aquifer storage to plan for the sustainable use of groundwater resources. This study aimed to investigate the management, protection, and sustainable use of groundwater resources under climate change and land use change conditions. In this regard, groundwater supply and demand in one of the important plains in Iran (Hashtgerd plain) for 2020 as the base year was simulated to forecast the trends until 2050 by considering climate change and land use to develop management scenarios to adapt to these conditions using the WEAP model. First, climate change prediction was performed using the HadGEM2-ES model under two emission scenarios, RCP2.6, and RCP8.5, of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. The LARS-WG model was used to downscale the climatic data, while land use mapping was performed using Landsat satellite images of 1990, 2005, and 2020 in ENVI 5.3 software. Then, the Markov chain method implemented in TerrSet software was used to model land use change for 2050. The effect of climate change and land use on the decrease of groundwater level was then simulated using the MODFLOW model for the period 2020–2050. In order to manage the water allocation in the area, the information obtained from MODFLOW was transferred to the WEAP model using Link Kitchen interface software. The effects of various management scenarios such as increasing irrigation efficiency, reducing the loss of drinking water distribution networks, and allocating water from the transmission line were evaluated on the adaptation to climate change and land use for a 30-year period. The results showed that with the simultaneous consideration of climate change and land use in the most critical state, the average drop in groundwater level would reach 58 m during the study period, and aquifer reserves will be reduced by more than 50%. The evaluation of management scenarios showed that their implementation not only will protect aquifer reserves but, in addition to meeting 100% of the water needs, will result in sustainable exploitation of groundwater resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines an intermedial adaptation, focusing on the potentials of two different media in the presentation of conflicting ideologies in Iran: Tabar ("Axe") (1980, dir. Ahmad Arabani), a silent animation, and the picture book of the same title, by Shekoofeh Taqi and Manoochehr Dehqan, published in 1985. The two works have been chosen because they were both published at a time when Iran was tackling serious internal and external tensions after the Islamic Revolution. The ideological content of both the picture book and the animation can shed light on the discourse of didacticism that prevailed in Iran during the 1980s. Both works feature deforestation as a threat, but patriotism is the theme of the animation, whereas female resistance against male oppression is the message of the picture book. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim Moral stress happens when a person makes a moral decision but cannot accomplish it, mainly due to internal and external organizational limitations. Problem-solving skills training as one of the principles of stress management may be effective in controlling nurses’ moral stress. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of problem-solving skills training on the moral stress of novice nurses. Methods & Materials This study was a clinical trial performed on 70 novice nurses working in Shohaday Khorramabad Hospital, Khorramabad City, Iran. The samples were selected by convenience sampling and randomly divided into intervention (n=36) and control (n=35) groups. The study data were collected by demographic questionnaire and Corley’s moral distress scale. Before the intervention, participants of both groups completed those questionnaires. Then for the intervention group, a problem-solving skills workshop was held in six 2-hour sessions. After training, the Corley moral distress scale was completed again by participants of both groups. Finally, the data were analyzed by the Chi-square test, paired, and independent t tests in SPSS software v. 16. Ethical Considerations This study has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Arak University of Medical Sciences with the ethical code IR.ARAKMU.REC.1395.449. Informed consent was taken from all participants, and they were assured of keeping their information confidential. ResultsIn this study, most participants were around 25 years old. Also, 98.5% had Bachler’s degrees, and 1.5% had Master’s degrees. The study results showed that the mean of moral distress in the intervention was significantly different from before the intervention (P<0.05). Conclusion This study showed that applying problem-solving skills has a significant effect in decreasing the moral distress of novice nurses in the clinical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing the climate change (CC) can have vast impacts on agricultural production has generated a desire to create resilience into cropping systems. Crop management is the most important strategy to improve crop yield and resilience under CC. This study investigated the adaptation (changing planting date and crop rotation) effects on rainfed wheat yield in Iran. A fallow-wheat rotation was simulated by the DSSAT model under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP)-4.5 and RCP-8.5 emission scenarios, for four time periods (1994–2018, 2032s (2020–2044), 2057s (2045–2069), and 2082s (2070–2094)) and an ensemble of five GCM models within the latest model based CMIP 5 for 16 representative sites within agro-climatic zones of the country. Results revealed that the magnitude and direction of CC impact and adaptation response varied spatially even within the agro-climatic zones. Under future CC, due to higher temperature and lower precipitation, wheat yield are projected to decrease depending on emission scenarios in all sites except Qorveh, Aligudarz, and Saqez. In general, greater rainfed wheat yield reduction is highly possible during the late twenty-first century and wheat yield will be more affected by CC under RCP-8.5. In the highlands of northwest Iran, rotation carryover effects and chickpea- and annual medic-wheat rotations can modulate the rainfed wheat yield response to CC, in 2032s and 2057s periods, with greater effects from annual medic. In lowland areas, replacing fallow with crop legumes was not sufficient to avoid wheat yield losses. When planting dates were adapted, wheat yield improved across a large number of locations under all wheat-based crop rotations. In general, crop rotation can be considered as an essential component of risk reduction strategies for CC adaptation and yield resilience especially in areas where crop rotations better represent predominant cropping systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognition of the spiritual and psychological needs of children and their families with chronic asthma disease may be helpful in a successful coping with their problems in order to control over the condition. In a qualitative content analysis study, nine children with moderate to severe asthma and 10 parents were studied in order to discover the resources of compatibility of them. The participants were chosen purposefully and they were asked some semi-structure questions about their experiences. The spiritual and psychological experiences of the participants were divided into two main categories as follows: (1) contrive to religious-belief consisting of three sub-categories known as 'religious rituals, believe in a divine predestination, and Islamic-based patience,' and (2) psycho-intellectual management that includes the five sub-categories of 'psycho-intellectual attention, maintaining family's mental peace, reduction in negative burden of disease, satisfaction from optimal treatment, and matching internal desires with disease conditions.' It is recommended that heath care providers by reinforcing parent's and children's religious and spiritual backgrounds and according to child's cognitive development at this age provide a suitable foreground through necessary instructions for children and their families in order to spiritual growth and suitable adaptation with disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant breeding has been concerned with genotype by environment (GE) interaction and high yielding genotypes with stable performance are desirable while this target is difficult to achieve due to high environmental variations and unpredictable GE interaction. Stability of grain yield performance of 18 barley genotypes was evaluated at 5 locations for 3 years in the rainfed conditions and it was studied through 25 nonparametric stability methods. Four nonparametric tests indicated highly significant GE interaction due to differential performance of genotypes across fifteen environments. Regarding mean yield and six Hühn's statistics, genotype G12 (1946 kg ha-1) was the most favorable genotype while based on the RN1, G4, G10 and G11 were the most stable genotypes. Genotypes G4, G8 and G10 were the most favorable genotypes according to rank-sum while genotypes G2, G13 and G18 were the most favorable genotypes based on nonparametric superiority. The relative interactivity index identified G4, G16 and G8 as the most stable genotypes while the genotypic classification identified G1, G2, G13 and G18 as the most stable genotypes. Clustering of the nonparametric stability methods indicated that there were two groups with different static and dynamic characteristics. In this study, five nonparametric stability methods as GC, FM, PA, RN2 and KR2 were associated with high grain yield and reflected the dynamic concept of stability, but the other twenty nonparametric stability methods were not positively correlated with yield and characterized a static concept of stability. Finally, genotypes genotype G13 (2114.13 kg ha-1) and G18 (2062.69 kg ha-1) were found to be the most favorable genotypes and are thus recommended for commercial release in semiarid areas of Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: With 60% of the population younger than 26years, a need of about 1.5 million residential units per year for the next 5years and the necessity of mitigating its rapidly growing GHG emissions together with adapting cities to the expected drastic effects of climate change, Iran’s urban agglomerations are facing tremendous challenges now and in the future. The paper presents interim findings of the German–Iranian research initiative “Young Cities” (2005–2013) that investigates approaches for these immense challenges. The project aims at developing energy-efficient and resilient housing in a real-life pilot project, the 35ha area in Hashtgerd New Town in the Tehran province. The article explores the framing conditions and the master plan of this pilot and identifies four key planning strategies. Besides applying climate-sensitive urban form, the project stresses the need to develop culturally adapted building typologies for reduced heating and cooling, an efficient public transport in a mixed and dense urban structure and integrated water and energy systems on the neighborhood level. Simulations of these planning approaches have proven a significant reduction of energy- and resource consumption and the capacity of the design to adapt to (a potentially changing) environment. These promising strategies for energy-efficiency and resilience were transferred into a legally binding comprehensive plan commissioned in October 2010, though the major challenge in the second phase of the project (2011–2013) will be making these innovations a built reality. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

While the literature on adaptation to drought has increasingly focused on investigating farmers' understanding of drought, no comprehensive study has been conducted on behavior determinants and farmers' adaptation strategies so far. To address this research gap, the current study was performed to investigate the effective factors and determinants on applying adaptation strategies by farmers in Iran. The statistical sample of the study included 430 farmers in East Azerbaijan province (located in northwest of Iran) selected through multistage sampling method. Study results after categorization of adaptation strategies (AS) first indicated that, the farmers under study suffer from a lack of high adaptation but in order to add more accuracy and grouping farmers' strategies in drought condition, exploratory factor analysis was applied in which they were categorized as self-control, active and integrated strategies. Next, structural equation modeling was adopted to study the effective factors on applying AS by farmers confronted with the drought. The results showed that, social, environmental, infrastructure, and economic factors exert a positively significant effect on selecting the AS whereas, human-related factors were proved to have an insignificant effect on adopting the AS. The results associated with structural equations indicated that, effective factors account for 93.3% of variance in application of AS which is a highly considerable rate. Indeed, these results revealed high importance of social factor, environmental factor, infrastructure factor and economic factors in applying the AS among the farmers. Therefore, our findings offered solutions as to how to reduce risks in farmers' activities during drought conditions to improve adaptation behavior of Iranian farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• PMT was used to test farmers' adaptive response. • A cross-sectional survey was designed to investigate farmers' responses to water shortage. • Coping appraisal was stronger than threat appraisal. • Self-efficacy was not significant effect on adaptive response. • Collective efficacy was significant effect on adaptive response. Climate change impacts the water sector in a manner that reduces the harvest and income of farmers, thereby exacerbating poverty and many other social problems. However, through adaptation measures, farmers can manage climate change impacts and thus reduce their vulnerability. To design effective public adaptation strategies, it is crucial to understand farmers' behaviors at the farm level in response to water shortage due to climate change. Thus, the aim of this research is to accrue empirical evidence about farmers' perceptions of and responses to water shortage due to climate change, using the Protection Motivation Theory. To increase the predictive power of the model, this paper added the collective efficacy variable to the model. The population of interest consisted of farmers from Shushtar, a county in Khuzestan Province, southwestern Iran. A total of 251 farmers were selected using a multi-stage, clustered, random sampling method. The results of structural equation modeling revealed that model variables accounted for 39 % of variance in farmers' adaptation behaviors. The inclusion of collective efficacy in the original model increased its predictive power and produced a model of a better fit; the proportion of variance accounted for an increase of about 11 %. These findings are expected to yield recommendations for public policy, as well as agricultural extension and education recommendations for stimulating successful adaptation behaviors among Iranian farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aphaniops dispar, widespread around the Arabian Peninsula, was recently separated in four species (A. dispar, A. hormuzensis, A. kruppi, A. stoliczkanus) by molecular results and colour patterns, but the morphological differences are small and call for more studies. Here we report differences in skeleton and median fin osteology of these species. In addition, we introduce the term 'modified caudal vertebra' to describe caudal vertebrae that are not directly associated with caudal ray support but are visibly modified from a 'usual' caudal vertebra. Aphaniops hormuzensis, an endemic species to southern Iran, has a significantly higher number of modified caudal vertebrae compared to the more widespread A. stoliczkanus and A. dispar, and also to A. kruppi. This is a surprising result as the caudal skeleton and related structures of the posterior caudal vertebral column have yielded successful results in separating between families or genera, but there are only a few studies that have examined these structures for their role in species diagnosis. Our study also highlights that state‐of‐the‐art methods in X‐raying and improved staining procedures assist in the discrimination of superficially similar species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ensuring public health is crucial in any policy debate on climate change. Paris Agreement on climate change is a global contract, through which countries have committed themselves to a public health treaty. The agreement has laid the foundation for mitigation and adaptation. This study was conducted to provide an evidence-based framework for policy-making in the health system of Iran in order to reduce the adverse effects of climate change on public health and to increase the adaptation of the health system as a result.Methods: This is a qualitative study. We first used Delphi method to extract the components of Paris Agreement on climate change that were related to the functions and policymaking of health system in Iran. Twenty-three experts in health and climate change were identified purposefully and through snowball sampling as participants in Delphi. Data collection instrument was a structured questionnaire. We used SPSS software version 25 for data analysis based on the descriptive indices including the mean, the percentage of consensus above 75%, and the Kendall coordination coefficient.Results: Seventy-nine components classified within nine categories were extracted. The most important examples of the implementation of Paris Agreement on climate change in the health system of Iran were: participation in the formulation of strategies for mitigation and adaptation, identifying vulnerable groups, assessing vulnerability, increasing the capacity of health services delivery during extreme events, using early warning systems, using new technologies to increase the adaptation, evaluation of interventions, financial support, increasing the number of researches, increasing the knowledge and skills of staff, and finally public awareness.Conclusions: Evidence-based policy-making is pivotal to develop effective programs to control the health effects of climate change. This research provided policy translation and customization of micro and macro provisions of Paris Agreement on climate change, in line with the political context of health system in Iran. Our finding will pave the ground, we envisage, for further steps towards capacity building and enhancement of resiliency of the health system, adaptation interventions, and evaluation, identification of barriers and facilitators for adaptation and decreasing the adverse health effects caused by the climate change, in Iran and perhaps beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pathway of a modelling project is commonly described as an adaptively adjusted chain of steps at which various decisions are made. Communication and documentation about these decisions are crucial to enabling reflection and adapting the pathway to changing circumstances, such that well-informed planning is required. Project decision making, however, often remains a black box; it is rare to find reporting of dead ends, alternative decisions, and changes in decisions during the project. This paper uses an integrated environmental management case study in Iran to demonstrate the importance of reflective documentation and communication within the pathway. We show how a pathway diagram, incorporating some 14 symbols depicting steps, decision forks, options (selected and alternatives), actions, communication and documentation, can illustrate the role of communication within the project and identify lessons learnt. We also encourage further work on application of agile project management and social science techniques to improve modelling practices. Image 1 • Reflective communication helps to expose the black box of the modelling process. • Reflective documentation and communication within projects should be planned in advance. • Use of a pathway diagram illustrates the role of communication, identifies lessons learnt. • Effective communication along the project pathway is essential to adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses as one of the greatest ethical challenges of the contemporary era and which is rapidly affecting all sectors and ecosystems, including natural ecosystems and human and social environments. The impacts on human societies, and societies' ability to mitigate and adapt to these changes and to adhere to ethical principles are influenced by various factors, including gender. Therefore, this study aimed to design a model of climate change adaptation behavior among rice farmers in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran, based on gender analysis (IUCN, UNDP and GGCA in Training manual on gender and climate change, 2009) and using the developed model of protection motivation theory (Bockarjova and Steg in Glob Environ Change 28:276–288, 2014). For this purpose, 173 female and 233 male rice farmers in Mazandaran Province were selected through stratified random sampling. The results showed that threat and coping appraisal had positive and significant effects on climate change adaptation behavior in both groups. Additionally, men's and women's perceived severity had the greatest impact on threat appraisal, and response costs had the greatest impact on their coping appraisal of climate change. Given that climate change adaptation behavior has been largely dependent on the development of ethical principles and the behavior of men and women toward climate change and based on the research findings, some suggestions are recommended at the mega (international), macro (governmental and legislative), meso (related organizations) and micro (rice farmers) levels for male and female rice farmers to adapt to the climate change phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Genotype x environment interactions complicate selection of superior genotypes for narrow and wide adaptation. Multienvironment yield trials of twenty durum wheat genotypes were conducted at five locations of Iran (Gachsaran, Gonbad, Moghan, Ilam and Khorram abad) over four years (2009-2013). Combined ANOVA of yield data of the twenty environments (year/location combined) revealed highly significant differences among genotypes and environments as well as significant genotype-environment interaction indicated differential performance of genotypes over test environments. The GE interaction was examined using multivariate analysis technique as principal coordinate analysis (PCOA). According to grand means and total mean yield, test environments were grouped into two main groups as high mean yield (H) and low mean yield (L). There were eleven H test environments and nine L test environments which analyzed in the sequential cycles. For each cycle, both scatter point diagram and minimum spanning tree plot were drawn. The identified most stable genotypes with dynamic stability concept and based on the minimum spanning tree plots and centroid distances were G12 (3342 kg ha-1), G10 (3470.3 kg ha-1), G5 (3203.0 kg ha-1), and G1 (3263.5 kg ha-1), and therefore could be recommended for unfavorable or poor conditions. Genotypes G10 (3470.3 kg ha-1) and G9 (3404.2 kg ha-1) were located several times in the vertex positions of high cycles according to the principal coordinates analysis (PCOA) and therefore could be recommended for favorable or rich conditions. Finally, the results of principal coordinates analysis in general confirmed the breeding value of the genotypes, obtained on the basis of the yield stability evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: McGill pain questionnaire (MPQ) is the most useful standard tools for pain assessment. Due to cultural differences, the questionnaire has been translated into several languages. We aimed to translate and adapt MPQ into Persian language and assess its reliability in Iranian cancer patients. Methods: The MPQ was translated by translation-base method with preserving the original structure. Subsequently we used Persian McGill Pain Questionnaire (P-MPQ) and interviewed 84 patients and repeated the interview after 24 hours in 30 patients. Results: Alpha coefficient of questionnaire (n=84) was 0.85 and the stability coefficient (n=30) in all areas (sensory, emotional, and other assessment) were more than 0.8. Stability coefficient was significant and reliable for all the MPQ subclasses. Conclusion: Adaptation and reliability of Persian-McGill Pain Questionnaire (P-MPQ) are enough for epidemiologic studies of chronic pain in cancer patients in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]