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Besides the main elements such as setting, theme, plot, and conflicts, any narrative or story requires another key element called character. It is the character that adds meaning and life to each of these elements, transforming a narrative into a compelling story. Characterization is essentially the process of bringing life and creating human figures from the elements of a narrative discourse. Creating and developing characters in the realm of storytelling and art is a delicate and novel task referred to as “characterization.” This process results in the creation of characters that are believable, engaging, and understandable for the audience. Characterization establishes a bridge of communication between the reader’s or viewer’s mind and the world of the story, enabling them to empathize with the characters, understand their emotions, and become curious about their actions and motivations, thereby increasing audience engagement.The corpus of this research consists of short stories by the Afghan author Mohammad Asef Soltanzadeh. The present study, relying on Soltanzadeh’s ability to utilize and develop story characters, is conducted in a descriptive-analytical manner. The aim has been to analyze the use of the element of characterization and the interaction between pragmatics and stylistics in three short stories from the collection “Nowruz is Only Splendid in Kabul,” considering Culpeper’s theoretical framework (2017). The results of this study indicate that characterization consistently follows three elements: the degree of narrative control, the dialectic of self and other, and explicit and implicit meanings within the overall narrative discourse, which the author skillfully employs.
 

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Prepositions are linguistic elements that indicate the physical properties of referent and relatum and the geometry of the manner in which they interact with one another. Numerous studies have shown that prepositions in their abstract usages retain at least one of their spatial geometric features which is testimony to embodiment theory and it also suggests that understanding of abstract usages of prepositions can be better done by first studying the spatial usages of them. In this research we consider and analayse spatial geometry of different usages of Persain preposition /dᴂr/ applying Talmy's approach towards spatial structuring in language. Fourteen distinct usages were extracted from Hamshahri Corpus. The spatial geometry of each usage was analaysed and at least one image schema has been proposed for each usage. As a result of close study of various usages we observed that in all usages either the factor "enclosure" or "locus of control" or both are present in the geometry of  the preposition. In one instance we observed a tertiary reference object for locating the Figure in the scene. An investigation of one spatial geometry ascribed to the preposition /dᴂr/ led to suggesting a volumar schema for "way". Also in some usages the use of metonomy can be seen where part of the real Ground or an entity related to it appears as Ground in the sentence.
 

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A prominent characteristic of the trial discourse is the imbalance of power between the participants, in such a way that the power is imposed unilaterally from the interrogator (be it the investigator, the judge, etc.) to the addressee. The most important tool for imposing power is the use of "question" which has a controlling feature. In order to analyze the different dimensions of the trial discourse, the present research studies the structural, discursive and pragmatic aspects of questions in different criminal, civil and family branches in the court and prosecutor's office of Duroud city. In the structural dimension, the types of morpho-syntactic characteristics and in the pragmatic dimension, the type of speech act of different types of questions have been considered. In this regard, we examined the data by combining quantitative and qualitative approaches. The results indicate that the most frequently used question forms are related to yes/no and narrow wh-questions. It was also found that the questions have three types of regulative, constative and communicative speech acts. The findings confirm that some questions that have a communicative action are raised by lay participants with the purpose of clarification, and therefore, in some situations, it is possible to observe a change in the one-sided questioning pattern of interrogator → addressee. Most of the questions that are raised by lay people are rooted in their lack of familiarity with technical legal terms, which in some cases can lead to consequences such as the lack of a favorable defense.
 

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This study evaluated the efficacy of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) as biocontrol agents against aphids, whiteflies and western flower thrips. The research employed a leaf disc bioassay with various conidia concentrations to determine lethal concentration (LC) and time (LT) for pest eradication. Additionally, the study assessed the activity of cuticle-degrading enzymes produced by EPF (Chitinase, Protease, and Lipase) to understand their pathogenic mechanisms. Molecular identification using ITS region of 18S rDNA identified virulent isolates. Results indicated that four isolates, ENPF-16, 24, 41, and 60, achieved significant mortality rates (95% to 100%) at a concentration of 1x10⁸ conidia/mL after nine days. Akanthomyces sp. (ENPF-41) exhibited the highest enzyme activity, followed by Beauveria sp. (ENPF-60). The virulent fungal isolates were identified as Beauveria bassiana and Akanthomyces lecanii. Among EPFs, Akanthomyces lecanii (MT997935) displayed greater virulence against all three test insects with lower LC₅₀ and LT₅₀ values compared to other EPFs. In summary, all fungal isolates induced mortality in the tested pests, but their effectiveness varied. Akanthomyces lecanii (MT997935) emerged as a promising biocontrol candidate due to its broad host range and strong virulence.
 

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Ganoderma boninense Pat. is a persistent soil-borne pathogen that causes significant losses in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Pat.) productivity. In this study, we evaluated the antifungal activity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by a fungal isolate, later identified as Paraconiothyrium archidendri F10, against G. boninense. The isolate was identified based on ITS-rDNA sequence analysis and BLASTn results. VOCs produced by P. archidendri F10 were found to inhibit G. boninense mycelium growth by up to 55.8% in four days, with the mycelium exhibiting wavy, non-smooth, and wrinkled morphology, abnormal branching, fused, defective hyphae, and lysis from within. The major VOC components were esters, with 7,9-ditert-butyl-1-oxaspiro[4.5]deca-6,9-diene-2,8-dione being the most abundant (16.72%). The other top-ranking components were 2-O-(6-ethyloctan-3-yl) 1-O-hexyl oxalate (8.71%), methyl heptadecanoate (8.66%), and butyl acetate (5.66%), with minor components comprising less than 5% of the total VOCs. Our findings suggest that P. archidendri F10 has potential as a biofungicide for controlling G. boninense in the field.

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In Khuzestan province of Iran, the number of traffic passes made by heavy farm machinery in sugarcane land preparation varies depending upon field conditions, ranging from a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 16 passes annually. To reduce energy, time and cost, it is imperative to use conservation tillage as well as controlled traffic systems. The objectives of this research were to develop, and evaluate a combined strip deep tillage machine equipped with a two-level deep tillage implement including a dual sideway-share and a winged subsoiler, cum with a set of discs. For optimizing the dual-sideway-share subsoiler, the effects of share rake angle (7.5 and 15°) and length (150 and 200 mm) on the implement field performance were examined. Also, to optimize the winged subsoiler, it was tested with its wing having different lengths (0, 200, 250, and 300 mm). Finally, the performance of the developed combined strip deep tillage machine was compared with a conventional subsoiler used for deep tillage in the fields. The results showed that the optimized combined strip deep tillage machine should be equipped with the dual sideway-share subsoiler having a share with a 7.5° rake angle and 150 mm length, and the winged subsoiler with 250 mm length for its wing. The results showed that the specific resistance of the developed machine as compared to the conventional subsoiler decreased by 34%. Therefore, the machine has higher efficiency and is an environmentally friendly implement for sustainable sugarcane production in southwest Iran.
 

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Climate change has become one of humanity's greatest challenges. Rising temperatures, weather fluctuations, and especially changes in precipitation and wind patterns have profound impacts on infrastructure and urban structures. These changes not only increase the risk of natural disasters but also affect the design and construction of buildings. Therefore, the development of innovative solutions to enhance the seismic performance and resilience of these buildings, especially in regions susceptible to climate change, is crucial. This study examines the performance of an 8-story steel structure with geometric irregularity in its plan against the effects of climate change, focusing on wind loading under three different wind speed increase scenarios including:1-low 2-moderate, and 3-severe. To mitigate the negative effects of these changes on the seismic performance of the structure, magnetorheological damper was employed. The entire floor slabs of the structure were considered rigid. The modified Bouc-Wen method was used to indicate damper behavior in dynamic equations of the structure and two control scenarios including passive control and active control were considered. NatHaz online wind simulator data base was used for modeling wind loading on structure and the Simulink environment of MATLAB was used to model the structure equipped with a magnetorheological damper under wind loading. 
The results indicated that a slight increase in wind speed led to an average increase of 35%, while a moderate increase resulted in over 60%, and a severe increase in wind speed caused more than a 100% rise in maximum displacement, drift, and base shear responses of structure. By adding magnetorheological damper to improve the negative effects of increased wind speed on the seismic performance of the structure, the damper was able to reduce the maximum displacement, drift, and base shear of the floor where it was installed by 14%, 32%, and 38% respectively in scenario (1), by 16%, 40%, and 32% respectively in scenario (2), and by 8%, 28%, and 29% respectively in scenario (3). This indicates that the damper effectively controlled the response of the floor it is installed on and was able to mitigate the negative effects of climate change. Furthermore, this damper not only positively affected the floor it was installed on but also improved the seismic response of the roof level, maintaining its effectiveness across all three climate change scenarios. Additionally, the results indicated that the damper performs better in active control mode compared to passive mode. However, the parameters related to maximum acceleration of the floor indicates a significant increase in the active control scenario, while in the passive control scenario, no significant changes were observed. The best results were achieved in the low and moderate wind speed increase scenarios. Although in the severe wind speed increase scenario, the damper maintained its effective performance. In conclusion, it can be said that the force generated by the magnetorheological damper has intelligent adjustability, which can change based on environmental conditions and loading. This feature allows structures to respond more quickly to sudden environmental changes and provides greater safety against damage caused by climatic conditions as well as enhancing the resilience of structures against adverse weather conditions.
 

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Soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr is one of the most important oilseed plants in the world and Phythophthora root and crown rot is a significant limiting factor for its planting. In the present study the antagonistic effect of 12 Trichoderma spp. in vitro and these Trichoderma spp. in combination with Bradyrhizobium japonicum in vivo on Phytophthora sojae and soybean growth were tested. In laboratory tests the effects of Trichoderma isolates were studied in dual culture, volatile compounds and culture filtrate metabolites. The most hyphal growth inhibitions were obtained using T. virens, T. orientals and T. brevicompactum in dual culture tests and T. atroviride in volatile compounds test. The effects of Trichoderma culture filtrates on P. sojae hyphal growth were studied at six concentrations in CMA medium and the results showed that culture filtrates of all species inhibited the hyphal growth and that different concentrations had different inhibitory effects. The most inhibition was obtained by T. virens and T. brevicampactom culture filtrates. The greenhouse tests were carried out as two experiments. In the first experiment the effects of coated seeds with Trichoderma isolates and B. japonicum, alone and in combinations, on control of P. sojae and in the second experiment the effect of these two biocontrol agents on soybean growth, alone and in combinations, were assayed. In the first experiment, germination percentage, damping-off, seedling vigour index (SVI) and disease severity were measured and results showed that T. brevicompactum as alone and in combinations, was the most effective species. In the second experiment, coated seeds with Trichoderma isolates and B. japonicum, as alone and in combinations, significantly promoted the growth of treated seeds and the most effective species were T. orientals, T. brevicompactum and T. spirale. Hence, results indicate that T. brevicompactum, as the second most common species after T. harzianum in Iran, was the most successful species applied individually and in combinations with B. japonicum to act as biocontrol agent for P. sojae and was also able to promote plant growth.

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Background: Chronic Low back pain (CLBP) is one of the most prevalent health problems which is affected by psychological disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of psychological intervention on chronic low back pain among a sample of Iranian nurses.
Material and Methods: This is a randomized clinical trial. The participants of this study consisted of 84 nurses suffering from chronic back pain and working in Valiasr hospital, Tehran-Iran. The recruited nurses were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups (42 nurses in each group). The demographic questionnaire and Visual Analog Assessment scales (VAS) and a Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) were used to collect data at the beginning of the study and 3 months following completion of the intervention. Data were analyzed using Chi-square, T-test and paired T-test.
Results: Forty-two nurses, with a mean age of 32 ± 8.2 and 31.5 ± 7.4 years in the intervention group and control group respectively, took part in this study. The two groups were not significantly different at the beginning of the study in terms of demographic data (P > 0.05). At the 3-month follow up, the pain rate in the intervention group was significantly decreased from 4.47 to 4.09 (P < 0.0001). Furthermore in intervention group, the mean scores of anxiety intervention group were decreased from 17.73 to 9.76 (P < 0.0001). Decreased Stress scores decreased from 15.52 to 9.52 (P < 0.0001), and the depression score from 17.66 to 10.45 (P < 0.0001).
Conclusions: The findings of this study showed that psychological interventions reduced stress anxiety, depression as well as low back pain among Iranian nurses. It is recommended that further research with larger sample and longer follow up be conducted to confirm the findings of this study.

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The aphidiine parasitoids (Hym., Braconidae) attacking the pest aphids on various pome and stone fruit trees in different parts of Iranwere studied. A total of 13 species belonging to seven genera of aphid parasitoids were identified in association with 17 aphid species on 10 different species of fruit trees. Sixty nine tritrophic associations were detected from the studied area of which 25 associations are newly recorded from Iran. An illustrated key is prepared for identification of the species. The parasitoids were categorized based on their potential impacts in biocontrol of pest aphids into the less important species and the key-stones. The first group of parasitoids includes the broadly oligophagous species, and even an occasional opportunistic species, Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall), while the second group includes the specific associations like Aphidius transcaspicus Telenga on Hyalopterus spp. and Pauesia antennata (Mukerji) on Pterochloroides persicae (Cholodkovsky). A probable occurrence of the univoltine aphid parasitoid, Pseudopauesia prunicola Halme in association with Ovatus insitus (Walker) is discussed.  

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A survey was conducted in fields of cucumber and watermelon in Bengaluru, India during April 2014 for dertermination of the common parasitoids (Hym.,Braconidae, Aphidiinae) attacking melon aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemi., Aphididae). Three species of Aphidiinae, including Aphidius platensis Brethes, 1913; Binodoxy sacalephae (Marshall, 1896) and Lipolexis oregmae(Gahan, 1931) were collected and identified, from which Aphidius platensis is newly recorded from India. The early evidence of Aphidius colemani in India can also be contributed to A. platensis. Diagnostic characters of three species with closely related species are briefly discussed.

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Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of the Syrian type 2 diabetic females and the way they control it. Methods: A qualitative design based on the content analysis approach was used to collect data and analyze the females' experiences with type 2 diabetes. Semi-structured interviews carried out with 12 females who had visited the Diabetic Center in Lattakia from March to December 2011. Finding: Seven major themes emerged out of the study as strategies for diabetes control: responsibility taking, illness confirmation, acquiring diabetes knowledge, self-care, sociofamily support, hopefulness and religious beliefs. Conclusion: The findings of the study can be used to empower Syrian diabetic population and can provide nurses and other health professionals with more profound understanding of how the Syrian with diabetes view their lives and their sources of strength.

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Biological efficacy of Trichoderma species may differ due to variations in ecosystems. This study was conducted to assess the biocontrol efficacy of some native Trichoderma isolates against Fusarium oxysporum, an important causal agent of potato wilt disease under laboratory and greenhouse conditions in Shahrood Agricultural Research Center, Shahrood, Iran during 2006-2007. Fourteen isolates were collected among which eight showed promising ability in inhibiting growth of the pathogen through dual culture and production of volatile and non-volatile metabolites but T. asperellum (T2) and T. atroviride (T3) were almost more efficient than other isolates in inhibiting the mycelial growth of the pathogen in comparison to control (P ≤ 0.01). Eight isolates were evaluated against the disease under green house condition. Potted plants treated with Trichoderma isolates + F. oxysporum showed lower disease incidence in comparison to Fusarium infested control (P ≤ 0.05). Best disease control was observed in potted plants treated with F. oxysporum + T. asperellum (T2) showing 2.5% disease incidence in contrast to Fusarium infested control, in which disease incidence was 73%.

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Soybean, Glycine max, is susceptible to a large number of disease agents such as seedling and root pathogens that cause serious damages to this crop plant. One of these soil-borne pathogens is Macrophomina phaseolina, the causal agent of charcoal root rot. In this study, two bacteria, Pantoea agglomerans and Bacillus sp. BIN, and a fungus, Trichoderma harzianum T100, as potential biocontrol agents, and maneb fungicide, were evaluated against soybean charcoal rot disease in In Vitro and greenhouse conditions. All antagonists inhibited growth of the pathogen in dual culture test by 73.8, 63.3 and 55.3 %, respectively. Data from greenhouse experiments showed that in the presence of pathogen all antagonists increased the growth indices of soybean in both pasteurized and non-pasteurized soil. Reductions of microsclerotia coverage on soybean root and stem by P. agglomerans, Bacillus sp. and T. harzianum were up to 62.5, 87.6 and 62.5 %, respectively and for maneb fungicide was 87.6 % in pasteurized soil. The overall results of this study show high capability of used antagonists in reduction of initial inoculums for next season of this monocyclic disease.

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Various molecular techniques are available to make differences and to study the genetic divergences among species and populations, of which the most efficient ones are PCR-based markers. One of these methods, molecular fingerprinting, enables the distinction of closely related populations. ISSR-primers are universal primers that can be used for such studies. The utility of these primers was tested for threepopulations of Eretmocerus mundus Mercet (Hym, Aphelinidae), a primary parasitoid of the whiteflies. Of the 60 ISSR primers, that were checked, as many as 64 bands were obtained from 16 primers. The band sizes ranged from above 200 to 1000 bp for different primers. The rate of divergence among the bands was strong enough to make a clear difference among the studied specimens; however the intricacy of using these primers is very much for studying the divergence among several populations. Therefore, sequencing of specific regions of DNA could bring more success to find out divergence among populations of these tiny parasitoids.    

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Effect of controlled atmospheres (CAs) at various concentrations of CO₂, N₂ and O₂ on the lethal times of Tribolium castaneum and Trogoderma granarium was investigated at 20 and 30 ºC. Experiments were performed using a recirculatory multi-flask apparatus. The results revealed that, the shortest times (0.1, 0.3 and 0.9 day for adults, larvae and pupae, respectively) required to obtain 50% mortality of T. castaneum stages were at 100% CO₂ followed by 75% CO₂, 50% CO₂, 99% N₂ + 1% O₂ and 25% CO₂, at higher tested temperature (30 ^°C). Adults were more sensitive to the different treated CAs than larvae, while pupae were the most tolerant stages. Diapausing larvae of T. granarium were the most tolerant to all treated CAs at tested temperatures. The effectiveness of CAs to decrease its LT₅₀ values were 100% CO₂ followed by 99% N₂ + 1% O₂ and 98% N₂ + 2% O₂ at 30^°C. It may be concluded that diapausing larvae are more difficult to control with CAs than normal larvae. A treatment with N₂ relying on the absence of O₂ will take a longer treatment time to control the diapausing larvae and in late winter, exposure times needed for control may be even longer. If CAs were to be applied under such circumstances, a high content of CO₂ would be the best option to achieve control in a comparatively short time.

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Quality deterioration of fish as the result of disintegration of proteins, even under chill storage, yields peptides and amino acids, which make the quality susceptible to further degradation as the result of bacterial conversion of these amino acids into hazardous biogenic amines (BAs). In this study, six biogenic amines (putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine, spermine, histamine and tyramine) in 16 days ice stored common carp (Cyprinus carpio) were evaluated at 5 intervals (0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 days). Higher levels of putrescine and cadaverine were detected at all intervals, indicating they can be good markers to determine the carp quality. Spermidine and spermine levels fluctuated during the storage and the levels of dangerous histamine and tyramine were too low to raise any concern.

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The cypress family, Cupressaceae, has a global dispersion. Currently, endophytic microorganisms from plants are being investigated for their diversity and bioactivities. Here, we aimed at exploration and characterization of cultivable endophytic fungi from foliar tissues of Cupressaceae, i.e. Cupressus arizonica, C. sempervirens var. cereiformis, C. sempervirens var. fastigiata, Juniperus excelsa, Juniperus sp. and Thuja orientalis. Asymptomatic fresh foliar tissues, collected from mature healthy plants, were sterilized and the inner layers were plated on culture media at 26-28 °C for 2-12 weeks, until fungal colonies emerged and were purified. Endophytic Penicillia i.e. Penicillium aurantiogriseum, P. chrysogenum, P. commune, P. echinulatum, P. expansum and P. viridicatum were the dominant fungi recovered. Results indicated that both host plant and geographical location of sampling affected the biodiversity and bioactivity of endophytic Penicillia. Results also indicated that those endophytic Penicillia had significant bioactivities. According to our results, both intra-and extra-cellular secondary metabolites from all isolated Penicillia had significant cytotoxic and antifungal effects against the model fungus Pyricularia oryzae and cypress fungal phytopathogens Diplodia seriata, Phaeobotryon cupressi and Spencermartinsia viticola. Further studies indicated the significant antimicrobial bioactivities of superior Penicillia against model bacteria. Altogether, this study highlights, for the first time, the biodiversity of endophytic Penicillia from Cupressaceae plants and documents their significance for agrochemical/drug discovery and for plant disease biocontrol.