Iran, America and Iranian American Community in Firoozeh Jazayeri Dumas\u27 Funny in Farsi

Post 9/11 the United States of America concerns the reconstruction of already demonized identities of Arabs and Middle-eastern cultures. Postcolonial works reside in their rendering a tragic or serious image of Middle Easterners to bring the Western (American) audience into sympathizing with the Middle Eastern ethnicities. Could it be the case that a fundamentally humorous (not derogatory) depiction might contribute to easing such cultural tensions? Firoozeh Jazayeri Dumas\u27 works stand out as critically acclaimed and successful works familiarizing the American audience with the more humane, likeable, sweet and funny aspects of the Iranians and Iranian culture, and the hardships of being an Iranian immigrant and becoming a hybrid individual. This article explores the already-hybridized self and psyche of Firoozeh as an Iranian American. She writes about her mother land and her residence country and comparing the way she has written about them can help readers understand how one can make peace between different parts of her identity

The comparison of heavy metals (Hg, Cd, Pb) in the muscle of Otolithes ruber in Abadan and Bandar Abbas Ports, the Persian Gulf

A comparative study was conducted on concentration of heavy metals including: Hg, Cd and Pb in the muscle of Otolithes ruber in Abadan and Bandar Abbas Ports in the Persian Gulf. In this study, a total of 42 specimens of Otolithes ruber were collected from coastal waters of Abadan and Bandar Abbas Ports in 2010. Heavy metals were extracted from the muscle tissues using wet digestion method and concentration of metals were measured by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The results showed that mean (±SD) accumulation of Hg, Cd and Pb in the muscles of Otolithes ruber in Bandar Abbas were 0.058±0.001, 0.279±0.056 and 0.668±0.077mgKg-1 wet weight, and in Abadan were 0.056±0.007, 0.25±0.038 and 0.638±0.087mgKg-1 wet weight respectively. No significant differences were found in concentrations of Hg, Cd and Pb in the muscle of Otolithes ruber between Abadan and Bandar Abbas ports. Accumulation of these metals were higher in the muscle of Otolithes ruber than that Bandar Abbas Port. Concentration of Hg in the muscle of Otolithes ruber was lower than acceptable limit suggested by WHO, MAFF, NHMRC. However concentrations of Pb and Cd were higher

Building the petro-polis: oil capitalism, imperialism, and the making of Abadan, 1908-1933

Abadan is the most prominent of all the oil company towns the British Petroleum Company built in Southwest Iran. Located at the border of Iran and present-day Iraq, by the mid twentieth century Abadan not only accommodated the world’s largest refinery, it had also become Iran’s most populous industrial city. This dissertation focuses on the process of urban development on Abadan Island between 1908 and 1933. Drawing on primary archival documents and secondary sources, this dissertation discusses how Abadan’s establishment and its changing urban form and spatial organization were the product of broader historical processes. Imperial intelligence and practical requirements of the oil industry helped determine the location of the refinery in 1908. Abadan was initially designed in 1909 as a fenced-in oil camp, its urban form representing the vernacular expression of industrial needs. The rapid growth of the refinery, particularly after WWI, turned the company town into a sprawling industrial landscape, with three separate residential quarters, where British employees resided in spacious residences on one end, international migrant laborers overcrowded barrack-type shacks in the middle, and local workmen lived in indigenous compounds on the other end. Driven by economic rationality, industrial order, and colonial ideology, the spatial structure of the Abadan refinery was engineered to accomplish the Company’s larger economic, social, and political goals. This pattern continued until 1924 when the Company management adopted a comprehensive plan and incorporated some elements of model company towns into Abadan’s spatial-physical structure to ameliorate the difficulties and inequalities created by rapid industrialization. The dissertation shows how urban reformation as well as town planning and design practices implemented between 1924 and 1933 aimed to boost industrial efficiency and prevent labor militancy by increasing the Company’s control over space and populations, while also addressing pressing urban issues, such as housing and public health

How farmers perceive the impact of dust phenomenon on agricultural production activities : a Q-methodology study

Dust as one of the environmental concerns during the past decade has attracted the attention of the international community around the world, particularly among West Asian countries. Recently, Iran has been extremely affected by the serious impacts of this destructive phenomenon, especially in its agricultural sector. Management of dust phenomenon increasingly calls for initiatives to understand the perceptions of farmers regarding this phenomenon. Farmers' views about dust phenomenon can affect their attitude and their mitigating behavior. This can also make a valuable frame for decision and policy-makers to develop appropriate strategies for mitigating dust phenomenon impacts on the agricultural sector. In line with this, a Q methodology study was undertaken to identify the perception of farmers toward dust phenomenon, in Khuzestan province, Iran. Sixty participants completed the Q sort procedure. Data analysis revealed three types of perceptions toward dust phenomenon: health adherents who seek support, government blamers who seek support, and planning adherents who seek information. Awareness of these perspectives is expected to promote the exchange of thought and knowledge among policy and decision-makers, and to support the development of a shared vision on dust phenomenon management

The forgotten legacy: oil heritage sites in Iran

During the rapid process of deindustrialization in Iran, the term ‘industrial heritage’ has recently emerged as a new subject into public realm. In order to integrate the methodologies for the protection and adaptive reuse strategies, the ‘industrial heritage’ itself needs to be divided into various categories. UNESCO has begun inscribing increasing numbers of local industrial legacies such as railway, mines, factories, assembly plants, agricultural production and manufacturing production in its World Heritage List. However, in the process of their adaptive reuse the question of heritage meanings arises. Over the past century in Iran, powerful corporate and governmental actors have created a broad range of oil imaginaries that changed over time and in line with local cultures. Starting from 1920s and after the nationalization of oil industry in Iran, oil cities such as Abadan and Masjid Suleiman saw massive expansion to house labors and oil-industry specialists who had arrived from the United States, Europe, India, and the Persian Gulf states. This research aims to clarify how the oil industry, in close collaboration with national governments, has materially shaped the oil cities through oil-specific architecture like company headquarters, gas stations, retail and infrastructure buildings. The current legacy of oil industry continues to reshape the industry, society and politics as well. This research uses a critical and analytical problem-based approach to examine the current policies that build a new image and identity through adaptive reuse strategies to promote sustainable local development in Iran’s industrial heritage

A Diffusion-Based Approach to Geminate Recombination of Heme Proteins with Small Ligands

A model of postphotodissociative monomolecular (geminate) recombination of heme proteins with small ligands (NO, O2 or CO) is represented. The non-exponential decay with time for the probability to find a heme in unbound state is interpreted in terms of diffusion-like migration of ligabs physics/0212040 and between protein cavities. The temporal behavior for the probability is obtained from numerical simulation and specified by two parameters: the time \tau_{reb} of heme-ligand rebinding for the ligand localized inside the heme pocket and the time \tau_{esc} of ligand escape from the pocket. The model is applied in the analysis of available experimental data for geminate reoxygenation of human hemoglobin HbA. Our simulation is in good agreement with the measurements. The analysis shows that the variation in pH of the solution (6.0<pH<9.4) results in considerable changes for \tau_{reb} from 0.36 ns (at pH=8.5) up to 0.5 ns (pH=6.0) but effects slightly on the time \tau_{esc} (\tau_{esc} ~ 0.88 ns).Comment: 8 pages with 4 figures, submitted to Chem. Phy

PENERAPAN PENDEKATAN SOCRATIC DIALOGUE UNTUK MELIHAT PROFIL KETERAMPILAN BERTANYA SISWA DALAM PEMBELAJARAN FISIKA

Melalui observasi dan wawancara yang dilakukan pada guru dan siswa sebuah SMP swasta di kabupaten Sumedang, diketahui bahwa jumlah pertanyaan yang diungkapkan pada tiap pertemuan tidak lebih dari dua hingga tiga buah pertanyaan. Jenis pertanyaan yang muncul tidak lebih dari dua jenis. Penulis ingin melihat profil keterampilan bertanya siswa dari segi kuantitas maupun kualitas setelah menerapkan Socratic dialogue tipe Huib Schwab. Metode penelitian yang penulis gunakan adalah metode penelitian deskriptif. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, diperoleh data bahwa Profil keterampilan bertanya siswa secara kuantitatif, pada pertemuan pertama muncul enam pertanyaan, pertemuan kedua muncul 13 pertanyaan, dan pertemuan ketiga muncul 12 pertanyaan. Keterampilan bertanya kualitatif sesuai bobot nilai pertanyaan pada pertemuan pertama memperoleh presentase sebesar 73%, pertemuan kedua presentasenya sebesar 60%, dan pertemuan ketiga mendapat presentase sebesar 75%. Kualitas ketrampilan bertanya siswa berdasarkan jumlah variasi jenis pertanyaan pada pertemuan pertama memperoleh presentase sebesar 33%, pertemuan kedua presentasenya sebesar 33%, dan pertemuan ketiga mendapat presentase sebesar 100%. Dengan demikian, metode Socratic dialogue dapat diterapkan dalam pembelajaran fisika untuk memunculkan keterampilan bertanya siswa dari segi kualitatif maupun kuantitatif. Through observations and interviews conducted in the teachers and students of a private junior high school in the district Sumedang, it is known that the number of questions at each meeting expressed no more than two to three questions. The types of questions that appear no more than two types. The author would like to see the profile of skills asked students in terms of quantity and quality after applying the Socratic dialogue types Huib Schwab. The research method that I use is the descriptive research method. Based on the results of the study, data showed that asking students the skills profile quantitatively, at the first meeting appeared six questions, meeting both appear 13 questions, and the third meeting appeared 12 questions. Skills appropriate to ask qualitative questions on the weight value of the first meeting of the percentage gain of 73%, the second meeting of the percentage of 60%, and the third meeting gets a percentage of 75%. The quality of questioning skills of students based on the amount of variation in the types of questions the first meeting of the percentage gain of 33%, the second meeting of the percentage of 33%, and the third meeting gets a percentage of 100%. Thus, the Socratic dialogue method can be applied in physics learning skills asked students to bring qualitative and quantitative terms