۱.
The little Zab River in northwestern Iran rises from the mountains Piranshehr and flows from the northwest to the southeast direction to join Iraq from Alan passage. The River basin contains a large number of ancient settlements, and its lower area that is close to the Zab River has been the most interesting place for people in the Neolithic Age. An increasing population during Chalcolithic Age led to the dispersion of settlements. These sites are located in the north of this basin, in a valley and a little plain.
۲.
Disproportionate punishments are those punishments passed or enforced without considering the criteria of proportionality, namely the criteria of harm done, the absolute or relative seriousness of crimes, the kind of committed crime and offender characteristics, the degree and kind of victim’s culpability. Considering the penological aims, such as retribution, deterrence and securing social defense, as a part of proportionality test, in the process of determining, distinguishing and enforcing proportionate punishments, is contrary to the rationale and philosophy of proportionality principle. In fact, this approach eviscerates this principle and leaves only an empty shell. The main cause of the prohibition of disproportionate punishments in the international, regional, national human rights' documents is the proscription of using human beings as a means to an end (instrumentalism), aiming at the heart of human dignity. In the Iranian legal system, there are no clear rules and regulations about the prohibition of these kinds of punishments and the determined punishments in many penal codes, such as the Islamic penal code (1991, 1996), the Penal Code of Armed Forces Crimes (2003), the Act against Narcotics (1997) and the Punishment aggravating Act of Bribery, Embezzlement and Fraud (1988) are not compatible with the standards of proportionality, especially with the absolute and relative seriousness of offences, offender characteristics and victim’s culpability. This article tries to explore the principal criteria of proportionality between crime and punishment, the concept of disproportionate punishments and the philosophical foundations of the prohibition of such punishments and their contradiction with human dignity.
۳.
This paper focuses on studying, introducing and comparing seals from the settlement areas and cemeteries in the North of Central Plateau of Iran. These seals were discovered in the previous and present excavations and surveys over the region. Based on the obtained results, the ratio of similarity and difference between the two groups of seals (from the settlement areas and the cemeteries) is quite proportionate to that of the potteries found in the mentioned region (again in the settlement areas and the cemeteries). The differences are not so significant to that ignore the traits they have in common. To put it simply, the specific signs and traits could be generally introduced as the seal making style of the Iron Age.
۴.
A rich research base suggests that high-stakes tests reforms serve as vehicles for promoting quality of learning, standards of teaching, and credible forms of accountability. Iran’s last decade policies to reform its University Entrance Examinations (UEEs) heralded such a case. What sparked off this reform was the long-lasting pernicious impact of the UEEs on curriculum, instruction, learning, and on societal values and access to the upward social mobility. However, attempts to introduce intended changes are often not as effective as their planners hoped. A scrutiny of change ‘antecedent conditions’ as well as its initial ‘process of diffusion’ i.e., a ‘baseline study’ will ameliorate such a failure (Weir & Roberts, 1994, Fekete et al, 1999). Assessing the feasibility of the UEEs reform through such a ‘baseline study’ is a gap in Iran’s reform initiatives. As such, the authors applied Henrichsen’s (1989) Hybrid Diffusion Model (HDM), underscoring an awareness of and a need for evaluation of any changed program from a multiplex of factors, as its theoretical framework to critically evaluate the reformed program. The paper thus first presents the policy deliberations and steering National Documents that pushed through an assessment-led reform in Iran’s education. Then it sketches a detailed discussion of the contextual policies and practices of the long-lasting UEEs program, its alternative and associated stakes. While the results highlight key political dynamics which drove national policymaking, they are suggestive of the challenges, controversies, and risks that thwart the success rate of ideals intended by the underpinning policies.
۵.
The concept of tense is an important issue in the morphological and syntactic analysis of words and sentences. The connection between this concept and other parts of the sentence, including the verb, and understanding its structural, semantic and conceptual differences has always been considered by Russian and Persian linguists. In this article, various types of direct and figurative applications of the Russian present tense are studied considering their equivalent expressions in the Persian language. While the present tense exists in both mentioned languages, there remain distinct conceptual, semantic and structural differences, of which lack of knowledge leads to difficulties and mistakes in learning, translation and research. Realizing the research deficiency on this particular subject and based on the issues of teaching Russian language to Persian-speaking students, interesting results are pointed out in the case of direct and figurative application of the Russian present tense and its comparison in the Persian language.
۶.
The contemporary globalization which is based on Post-Fordist Economy , was formed on the basis of informational capitalism, and has been differentiated from other concepts due to some characteristics like information economy, global economy, and network economic activities. The characteristics of post-Fordist Economy create a situation where capitals and productions are changed from place-based to spatial flexibility. In these circumstances, cities play the role of spatial support in social network and inside the post-Fordist Economy as new actors of transnational spaces. Metropolises are trying to provide parts of their expenses from the contemporary globalizing situation by using city diplomacy. Today, managements of metropolises are eager to be linked to world cities, not only to earn their management expenses, but also to create job opportunities for their citizens. And, this becomes evident through the city diplomacy. As such, it can be said that new actors of political geography in the 21 st century cities, the, are looking for their financial benefits. The current research deals questions such as: what are the contexts and how cities enter the transnational spaces as new players in the international system? Here, a descriptive - analytical research methodology has been applied. Finally, the paper considers the theory of Peter Taylor, a famous political geographers who theorized globalization, world cities network, the entrance and performance of metropolises in transnational spaces; for instance, new players in the framework of conceptual model.
