مطالب

Harirud river with an international nature is shared between Afghanistan, Iran and Turkmenistan and currently there is no treaty among these states regarding the division of its water resources. In recent years, after the construction of the Doosti Dam by Iran and Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, as an upstream state is moving towards hydro-hegemonic policy in the region by building various dams which restrain and divert the water flow of this river in order to decrease the downstream countries’ water rights. On the other hand, due to the high importance of Harirud water resources for Iran, continuing this type of behavior by Afghanistan might cause conflicts and create security risks among these countries in the near future. Therefore, employing a descriptive-analytical approach, the study aims at examining the issue according to international legal documents in the field of sharing common water resources. Finally, the findings indicate that the best and most practical method for exploitation of Harirud water resources is based on the theory of limited territorial sovereignty and implementation of the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization of common water resources by Afghanistan, without causing significant harm to downstream states.

Smart packaging plays a pivotal role in food distribution by integrating innovative technologies to enhance product safety, quality, and efficiency throughout the supply chain. Leveraging smart packaging minimizes waste, reduces spoilage, and enables real-time monitoring. However, producers face a few challenges with smart packaging, including high initial investment costs, compatibility issues with existing infrastructure, and regulatory hurdles concerning data privacy and safety standards. Additionally, ensuring widespread adoption and addressing consumer acceptance pose significant challenges and the need for continuous innovation to keep pace with evolving market demands and technological advancements. Therefore, this study aims to identify the current landscape of smart packaging within food distribution, outline the main themes within this field, highlight potential areas for further study, and provide a roadmap for future research endeavors. To fulfill this aim, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis was undertaken, utilizing data extracted from the Scopus database. A total of 1,094 documents relevant to the chosen keywords were successfully gathered for analysis. Frequency analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel, while citation metrics and further analysis were performed utilizing R package software. The outcomes of this investigation are presented using standard bibliometric metrics, encompassing publication year, authorship, subject area, document type, source title, citation analysis, keyword analysis, active institutional participation, geographic distribution, and language. The analysis revealed a significant increase in publications concerning smart packaging within food distribution since 1990. This upward trend underlines the crucial role of technology in the food industry, potentially impacting the environment, economy, and societal dynamics.

Although email correspondence is a common means of communication between scholars from different cultures, little attention is paid to writing academic emails in tertiary education. The present investigation is aimed at studying the influence of genre education on the formation of academic writing skills and understanding the principles of academic correspondence. The main methods used in the study were experiment and survey. The research was carried out on the basis of National Research Nuclear University MEPhI. The participants of the study were postgraduate (PhD) students (n = 100) with a major in Physics, Electronics, Computer Science, and other technical areas. The results of the study show that the students made considerable progress in their academic email writing skills even after a short period of explicit instruction applying the genre-based approach. Most of the students changed their way of thinking about writing emails for academic purposes in English and became aware of the norms of formal writing. Moreover, the results of the experiment and survey justify the necessity of including academic email writing in the curriculum of teaching Academic English and demonstrate strong potential of genre-based learning in other genres involving academic writing.

In today’s global business vision, the concept of “Intangible Capitals” has become a central tool to strengthen the value and credibility of firms. Intangible Capitals include non-physical assets like intellectual capital, intellectual property, brand reputation, and employee skills which are crucial for economic growth and firm performance. The purpose of this research is to comprehensively evaluate the impact of intangible capitals on various dimensions of credit profile, including qualitative indicators, quantitative indicators, intelligence indicators and investment indicators, considering the mediating role of the company's performance and the moderating role of the risk management framework and political connections. This paper uses the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach, which allows detailed analysis of the complex relationships between the involved variables. Data has been collected through surveys, enabling a quantitative evaluation of the impacts and interdependencies. The results indicate that Intangible Capitals have a positive and significant impact on credit profile's dimensions.

Writing proficiency is a key factor in the development of language skills and there are different approaches to writing development. This study sought to investigate the effect of flipped classroom, interactive classroom, and the integration of two approaches on Iranian advanced English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ writing performance. Eighty-five Iranian learners enrolled in EFL programs at the Sokhan English Institution in Guilan, Iran, participated in this quasi-experimental research. There were both male and females. After homogenizing them with the Oxford Placemen, they were divided into three experimental groups: the flipped classroom, the interactive classroom, and the integration of two approaches. Three instruments were used to collect data: the Oxford placement test, the pretest, and the posttest of writing. They had 13 sessions of treatment. Data analysis by ANCOVA revealed that both flipped classroom, and interactive classroom positively impacted the writing skills of EFL learners. However, the group receiving the integration of flipped and interactive approaches treatment outperformed in its effect on learners' writing performance. The current research findings could assist creators of textbooks, educational organizers, material developers, language institutions, educators, and students in creating a more effective environment for learning foreign languages and enhancing writing skills.

The study, which has been derived from a larger project, examined how effective ChatGPT, compared to human raters, is for scoring writing tasks when tasks were arranged from simple to complex or vice versa. In so doing, a correlational design was employed. The participants were 113 EFL learners. Two sets of writing tasks were customized based on the SSARC (simplify, stabilize, automatize, reconstruct, complexify) model. The participants were divided into two groups. They took a pre-test and did tasks in two different orders. The tasks were rectified by the researcher and returned to them later. The participants enhanced their text based on comments on tasks. After that, they took a posttest. Human raters and ChatGPT scored the pretests and posttests.  A Pearson Correlation test was run to obtain the correlation between a human rater and ChatGPT. The results indicated a strong positive correlation between scores assessed by human raters and those by ChatGPT when tasks were arranged from simple to complex (r = 968, p > 05) or complex to simple (r = 860, p > 05). These findings suggest that ChatGPT can be an effective tool for writing assessments. Suggestions for further research are discussed.