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The study aimed to analyse the causal effects of place attachment (PA) on farmers' groundwater (GW) sustainability behaviour using the developed model of cultural environmental bias (CEB). The analysis unit in this descriptive and causal study was the hydrological areas of GW resources studies and Agricultural GW Users (AGWU) of agricultural wells. Causal analysis showed that place identity structure (PI) is a strong determinant of GW sustainability behaviour and has the most direct and indirect causal effect on farmers' behaviour. The fitted model of the study is a combined model that explains 47% of the variance changes in GW sustainability behaviour. This study showed that in cultural and social contexts, beliefs and norms of farmers are vital in the decisions of the agriculture sector. Farmers' place attachment affects environmental cultural beliefs and activities and their public participation for the purpose of environmental‐groundwater sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We aimed to identify Neospora caninum DNA in the brain samples of aborted fetuses of cattle, goats, and sheep in Mazandaran, northern Iran, using PCR. Methods: In total, 133 aborted fetuses (51 sheep, 78 cattle, and 4 goats) were randomly collected from different stages of gestation in various regions of Mazandaran, Iran, from Mar 2016 to May 2017. The DNA was extracted from all the brain samples using phenol chloroform isoamyl alcohol instructions. The Nc-5 gene was used for the detection of N. caninum DNA by nested-PCR assay. Results: The detection of N. caninum DNA was confirmed by the observation of a 227 bp band in 24 samples of 133 aborted fetuses (18.1%). The highest prevalence rate of N. caninum was detected in the cattle (20.5%) followed by the sheep (15.6%); however, no positive cases were reported in the goats. The highest and lowest prevalence rates of the infection were reported as 23.8% and 8.6% in Qaemshahr, and Behshahr, respectively. The prevalence rate of infection (32%) in the early gestational period was higher than those in the middle (15%) and late (3.8%) gestational periods. Conclusion: The obtained data of the present study indicated that N. caninum infection may partly be responsible for abortion and economic loss in livestock farming in Mazandaran Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise in land value and its commodification in the contemporary era, the area of houses has been gradually reduced, and the houses with courtyards have been turned into small apartments. Hence, the residents' relationship with nature in the yard and the outdoor space, as a public space, has faced substantial changes. The contemporary residential architecture of Iran has redefined its relationship with the outdoor space more than anything in the transition from tradition to modernity and has explored a new way of dialectic discontinuity and interconnection. Therefore, the research question is the relationship between the parameters of the discontinuity and interconnection and the prominent patterns of the contemporary housing of Tehran based on the role of the closed and opened spaces. The current research aimed to study the relationship between the parameters of the discontinuity and interconnection in the prominent patterns of the contemporary residential architecture of Tehran, including three patterns- traditional (courtyard at the early Qajar era), traditional-contemporary (villa houses with a courtyard in the first and second Pahlavi era), and contemporary (apartments after the Islamic revolution)- based on which the dialectic of discontinuity and interconnection in the open and closed spaces can be explained. Various parameters of the discontinuity and interconnection of the houses in Tehran and the space syntax features were identified using valid library studies and the qualitative descriptive research method. Then, the relationship between the various parameters of the discontinuity and interconnection and the indicators of the space syntax were studied using logical reasoning. The case studies in the experimental theorem of logical reasoning were analyzed using pairwise comparison in the analytical hierarchy process by Expert Choice. Also, the parameters of the discontinuity and interconnection on the three main patterns were evaluated using the space syntax method by DepthMap software in the analytical theorem. The results of analyzing the Iranian human's interaction with nature in the modernization processes show that the open and semi-open spaces in the residential units have lost their nature than in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We investigate the existence of solutions for a k-dimensional system of fractional finite difference equations by using the Kranoselskii's fixed point theorem. We present an example in order to illustrate our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this manuscript we investigated the fractional finite difference inclusion Δμμ-2x(t) ∈ F(t,x(t),Δx(t)) via the boundary conditions Δx(b + μ) = A and x(μ - 2) = B, where 1 < μ ≤ 2, A,B ∈ R and F : Nb+μ+2μ-2 × R × R → 2R is a compact valued multifunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the existence of solution for the fractional self-adjoint equation Δν-1ν(pΔy)(t) = h(t) for order 0 < ν ≤ 1 was reported in [9]. In thispaper, we investigated the self-adjoint fractional finite difference equation Δν-2ν(pΔy)(t) = h(t,p(t + ν -- 2)Δy(t + ν -- 2)) via the boundary conditions y(ν -- 2) = 0, such that Δy (ν -- 2) = 0 and Δy(ν + b) = 0. Also, we analyzed the self-adjoint fractional finite difference equation Δν-2ν(pΔ²y)(t) = h(t,p(t + ν -- 3)Δ²y(t + ν -- 3)) via the boundary conditions y(ν -- 2) = 0, Δy(ν -- 2) = 0, Δ²y(ν -- 2) = 0 and Δ²y(ν + b) = 0. Finally, we conclude a result about the existence of solution for the general equation Δν-2937(pΔmy)(t) = h(t,p(t + ν -- m -- 1)Δmy(t + ν -- m -- 1)) via the boundary conditions y(ν -- 2) = Δy(ν -- 2) = Δ²y(ν -- 2) = ... = Δmy(ν -- 2) = 0 and Δmy(ν + b) = 0 for order 1 < ν ≤ 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The migratory lifestyle of nomadic communities, combined with the lack of a suitable health-related organizational structure, has made it difficult to provide health care services that can improve their health status. To achieve the concept of justice in health and sustainable development, it is imperative to improve the health status of all citizens in Iran, which consists of the nomadic communities, and urban and rural populations. In this ecological study national health indexes in nomadic tribespeople was Identified and prioritized by expert panel and fuzzy Delphi method. In the first step, the national health indexes were extracted from the literature, and then indexes that can be measured, evaluated and representative of the nomadic communities were extracted and prioritized by using fuzzy Delphi and TOPSIS methods, Questionnaire options were analyzed according to 3 criteria of economic efficiency, measurability, and simplicity in the form of 13 components and their indicators. The analysis of the results of the fuzzy Delphi method shows that the mental health component has the lowest real score in the criteria of measurability, simplicity and economic efficiency. The child care component has the highest real score in terms of economic efficiency and the vaccination component has the highest real score based on the criteria of measurability and simplicity in nomadic communities. The results of the TOPSIS method show that the components of vaccination, maternal care and child care have the highest priority for attention and investigation of their indicators in this segment of the population. In general, by designing and implementing systems to record the information of priority indexes extracted from the present study, it is possible for responsible organizations to make effective decisions and plans for the improvement of the health status of nomadic communities., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.