۱.
Defensive fortifications in different regions of Iran have been an effective factor in the survival of residential centers and commercial routes. An investigation on defensive structures will provide useful information on this kind of architecture. The study of remains of castles in the Rey region has provided an important context for archaeological research. In the present study, the Seljuk fortifications (Rashkān fortress, Gabri and Kāsni Castles) are introduced and recognized as inner city castles. It aims at identifying and studying the Seljuk fortifications of Rey, identifying the function of inner city fortifications, and comparing them with other samples in neighboring regions in terms of characteristics. The data were gathered through field and documentary studies while an analytical-historical method was applied in the course of the research. Important questions intended to be addressed were: 1. what has been the role of Seljuk fortifications of Rey in security provision of the region? 2. In which categories can the Seljuk fortifications of Rey be classified in terms of structural characteristics and architectural classification? Among the Seljuk fortifications of Rey, Kohandez (e.g. Rashkān Fortress) had functioned as the political headquarters, and in other inner city castles, larger circular towers have been usually located in four angles and interspersed with subsidiary towers. These types of defensive architecture indicate the progress in the urban construction and security provision.
۲.
In this article, the author is attempting to inquire intellectual trends in the post-revolutionary context of Iran. He has gone through the works of Soroush, Malekyan and Kadivar in relation to questions such as religion, society, governance, state and religion. His main idea could be summed up as the break-away of religious intellectuals from conceptualizing religion in terms of jurisprudential frame of reference and this itself has created new ways of understanding religion and its locus within modern society of Iran in the 21 st century.
۳.
The history of branding in Iran dates back to a few decades and its importance has recently been recognized by businessmen. The present study aims to add to the scientific aspect of branding, clarify the issue of branding, identify its principles and provide guidance for those making decisions in branding issues. Hence, the objective of this study is to provide a model for branding sporting sportswear in Iran . In the category of basic and data-based researches, this research is of mixed nature. This kind of study includes predetermined and emergent methods, open-ended and closed-ended questions, various forms of data, content and statistical analysis, and the final conclusions are based on the findings obtained from both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The present study was done using the exploratory tool compilation plan and based on it; the qualitative aspect of the research was done. Purposeful sampling and snowball sampling technique were used to perform in-depth interviews. A total of 15 interviews were conducted with experts. In fact, the sampling continued up to the step that the research reached to an adequate theoretical saturation. Based on the results, branding and sale of sportswear were classified into seven and eight levels, respectively. The findings include value creation, customer perception, online sales, accessibility, online payment conditions, displaying other customers' views and monitoring the sales. The research results also revealed all levels of recognizing the customer needs, competitors' activities, sportswear-related services, facilities, identification and pristine advertising that should be taken into consideration to brand Iranian sportswear.
۴.
This study investigates the morphological phenomenon known as plurals-in-compounds effect by analyzing responses given by 25 Persian-speaking children. The children, ranging in age from 3.5 to 13, were divided into six groups and asked questions like what do you call someone who verb-s [ regular/irregular ] plurals? that required them to form synthetic compounds such as car-stealer . Results indicated that when the nouns in the questions addressed to the children were regular plural, the non–heads in the compounds were predominately singular. Moreover, the children’s responses to questions containing irregular nouns showed that they preferred non–compound Agent ( singular N ) over compounds containing either singular or irregular plural nouns. The findings are in line with the specifications of Kiparsky's (1982) level-ordering model which bans plural morphology inside compounds. It was also revealed that the children’s compound construction relied on both structural and semantic constraints.
۵.
Deforestation has been one of the most detrimental consequences of the prevalence of European anthropocentrism in North America. European settlers who immigrated to North America found themselves in a bountiful paradise with infinite untrammeled natural resources that could be utilized to make a fortune. Likewise, they inflicted irremediable damages on nature upon the onset of their settlement in this continent. Investigating Louis Owens’ Wolfsong from an ecocritical standpoint, this article seeks to highlight the massive deforestation conducted by the white Americans in the Northwest of the United States of America. As a qualitative, research-based study, this article commences with the theoretical framework and subsequently focuses on the representations of the critical concepts in Wolfsong . It shall be indicated that the perspective held by the White Americans towards nature drastically collides with that of the indigenes. More exactly, the argument of this research follows the distinction between the treatment of nature by the Euro-Americans and Native Americans in Wolfsong .
۶.
According to the cognitive theory of metaphor, conceptual metaphors are an integral part of the human mind so that we can see these metaphors in all aspects of human thoughts and actions. A part of these metaphors is shaped based on up/down spatial orientations. Based on these metaphors, spatial orientations play a significant role in human understanding of many abstract concepts. These orientational metaphors are visible in ordinary and natural languages, as well as in specialized and scientific texts. It is shown in this paper that a part of these up-down orientational metaphors have also been used in Mullā Ṣadrā's philosophy: the “Having Control or Force Is Up, Being Subject to Control or Force Is Down” metaphor has been used to understand the causal relationship. The “Good Is Up and Bad Is Down” metaphor makes understandable that the source of good attributes is in transcendent and higher world and the source of bad attributes is in material and lowest world. The “More Perfect Is Up and Less Perfect Is Down” metaphor has been used to understand the gradational hierarchy of the beings.
