A B S T R A C T Transformations such as globalization, the contiguity of geographical spaces, as well as developments in the field of military technologies have transformed the issue of defense as the main factor for the survival of countries. Because the transformation from hard to soft war and then the smart war in recent decades has changed the approaches to defense. These transformations have led to the development of discussions about defense purposes. Meanwhile, Middle East countries have a prominent position and importance in terms of defense due to their special conditions. This article has tried to investigate the BASIC dimensions affecting the defense of foreign countries with descriptive and analytical methods, using library and field findings and Smart-PLS software. The results of the current research show that the effective components in the current research include 130 items that are placed in the form of 15 dimensions. The importance of these dimensions in defense of the Middle East countries is, respectively, geopolitical dimension with a 0.43 score, military dimension with a 0.41 score, economic dimension with a 0.41 score, political dimension with a 0.39 score, hydrology dimension with a 0.34 score, security dimension with a 0.32 score, social dimension with a 0.29 score, demographic dimension with a 0.28 score, cultural dimension with a 0.26 score, scientific-health dimension with a 0.25 score, geomorphological dimension with a 0.25 score, mathematical dimension with a 0.2 score, climatic dimension with a 0.2 score, biological dimension with a 0.2 score and soil dimension with a 0.18 score. Extended Abstract Introduction Security and defense are among the most vital issues for the preservation and survival of countries. In fact, defense and military affairs are necessary for countries' independence and political, cultural and economic development. Among them, geography and political geography are prominent fields that directly affect defense issues. Actions taken by a country in dimensions (political, military, economic, etc.) in order to maintain security and territorial integrity, guarantee independence and protection of its people against any enemy attack, will organize the geographical (spatial) environment, wise and appropriate distribution of critical places and sensitive centers and infrastructures are identified by taking into account the threats and the correct use of environmental capacities in political, economic, social, cultural, etc. dimensions, and as a result, it can lead to stability and stability in the country's geographical space. The design of defense planning model according to the economic, cultural, political and environmental features in the new era when countries are facing external and internal threats as a sub-branch of territorial planning has received the attention and importance of officials and governance systems in order to be able to reduce these threats with accurate and systematic planning in the geographical space, defense planning is not separate from the flow of national and regional planning. It is important to pay attention to it based on the type and amount of external and internal threats to governance. Due to the expansion of the security circle, the government is not only responsible for creating military security. However, it must also exercise part of its authority in the direction of territorial management. On the other hand, there has been a transformation in the form of threats and wars based on changes and the movement from hard to soft war and finally, smart war is the basis for reviewing and recognizing the components that can be used in defense of countries, including the Middle East countries, have a prominent position and importance. Despite the internal differences between countries, the Middle East has commonalities and connections that can directly affect the overall defense of this geographical space.   Methodology In terms of type and purpose, the current research is fundamentally applied. Also, it is descriptive and analytical in terms of nature. This research, in addition to the correct and realistic depiction of the defense situation of the Middle East countries, it is tried to provide a suitable model for the defense of the countries. The sources used in the current research are library and field sources (questionnaires). According to the subject of the current research, the statistical population of this research is a collection of people, experts and elites who have sufficient knowledge, experience and expertise regarding the research topic, which is the design of the defense model, according to the nature of the Delphi pattern model, at least the statistical population based on the sources should be between twenty and fifty people to reach statistical saturation. The number of selected samples included 51 people who were identified in the form of a non-random sampling pattern and introduced as a statistical sample in the framework of the Delphi model. Due to the qualitative nature of this research, it has been tried to use the Delphi model in the framework of the targeted non-random model. Therefore, based on these cases, the current research has selected the maximum statistical population of 51 elites, experts, and opinionated people in this field. In this research, to evaluate the research hypotheses in the form of the hardness equations model, the partial least squares method and the SMART-PLS software, which is a variance-based path modeling technique and provides the possibility of checking the theory and metrics simultaneously, have been exerted.   Results and discussion In this research, approaches such as political, military, cultural, etc., in the field of land use have been discussed. In the meantime, the defense of countries as an emerging approach is significant. According to the developments in geographical spaces, such as the evolution of military-defense technologies, the connection of geographical spaces to each other and most importantly, the movement from hard and soft war to smart war has witnessed a transformation and wide attention in a way that countries are suited to these developments are trying to prepare the geographical space of their country in terms of defense. Therefore, the defense planning of the Middle East countries as a geographical region has great importance from a geopolitical and strategic point of view, which indicates that the countries of this region face threats and complex defense-security issues in different ways.   Conclusion The results of the present research show that the defense planning in developing countries should be considered according to their characteristics, considering all 15 dimensions, which include 130 components. In the design of the defense planning of these countries, attention should be paid to the weight and importance of the shaping dimensions. In general, it can be said that the defense planning of the Middle East countries is proportional to the geographical features of these countries and on the other hand, considering the developments in the field of threats and moving from hard to smart war, 15 dimensions should be considered for the defense of these countries.   Funding There is no funding support.   Authors’ Contribution Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.   Conflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest.   Acknowledgments  We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.

Improving participation in voluntary activities in Iran is important because increasing productivity among young people, given the country's young population, contributes to community sustainability. Therefore, a better understanding of volunteer motivation in Iranian youth is needed. The Volunteer FUNCTIONS Inventory (VFI) for assessing volunteer motivations has good psychometric properties and is adapted to several languages, but no validated Iranian translation yet exists. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric Characteristics of voluntary FUNCTIONS inventory in members of Iranian Red Crescent Society. Sample size was 595 members of Youth Organization of Iranian Red Crescent Society from 31 provinces and 175 cities of Iran that were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method and responded to voluntary FUNCTIONS inventory. Data were collected using a demographic sample and voluntary FUNCTIONS inventory (VFI). Confirmatory factor analysis using principal components method was used for data analysis. The results of the present study showed that the voluntary FUNCTIONS inventory had validity and reliability. Also, the factor structure showed that 29 items and 6 factors well assess people's attitudes to volunteering, and the structure of this inventory was well-fitted and confirmed all goodness of fit models. The present study provides the use of the Iranian translation of the Voluntary FUNCTIONS Inventory (6 scales and 29 items) to assess volunteer motivation among young Iranian volunteers.

Purpose– Analysis of non-prismatic beams has been focused of attention due to wide use in complex structures such as aircraft, turbine blades and space vehicles. Apart from aesthetic aspect, optimization of strength and weight is achieved in use of this type of structures. The purpose of this paper is to present new shape FUNCTIONS, namely 3-node BASIC Displacement FUNCTIONS (BDFs) for derivation of structural matrices for general non-prismatic Euler-Bernoulli beam elements. Design/methodology/approach– Static analysis and free transverse vibration of non-prismatic beams are extracted studied from a mechanical point of view. Following structural/mechanical principles, new static shape FUNCTIONS are in terms of BDFs, which are obtained using unit-dummy-load method. All types of cross-sections and cross-sectional dimensions of the beam element could be considered in this method. Findings– According to the outcome of static analysis, it is verified that exact results are obtained by applying one or a few elements. Furthermore, it is observed that results from both static and free transverse vibration analysis are in good agreement with the previous published once in the literature. Research limitations/implications– The method can be extended to structural analysis of curved and Timoshenko beams as well as plates and shells. Furthermore, exact dynamic shape FUNCTIONS can be derived using BDFs by solving the governing equation for transverse vibration of beams. Originality/value– The present investigation introduces new shape FUNCTIONS, namely 3-node BASIC Displacement FUNCTIONS (BDFs) extended from 2-node FUNCTIONS, and then compares its performance with previous element.

In this paper, an alternative approach in operational modal analysis is presented, utilizing image processing technique and transmissibility FUNCTIONS. Imaging sensors do not impose additional mass on the structure due to their non-contact nature, while transmissibility FUNCTIONS, independent of excitation type, can directly extract mode shapes. The innovation of this research lies in combining these two techniques to record dynamic responses and identify modal properties. To capture the temporal response history from video signals, the block-matching method with sub-pixel accuracy was employed. Validation was conducted by recording the response of the tip of a cantilevered steel beam subjected to impact excitation, using a high-speed camera and a laser vibrometer, simultaneously. The RMSE plots in the time domain and the PSD in the frequency domain indicate high accuracy of this method. Using this approach, the displacement time histories of various points on the structure were extracted from the video signals, and the modal properties, including natural frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shapes, were identified using the transmissibility matrix method. The results obtained from the proposed method were compared with the stochastic subspace identification (SSI) method and analytical solutions. The findings reveal the accuracy of the modal identification approach introduced in this article. The highest relative error in estimating the natural frequencies of the first and second modes, compared to the values from the laser method, are 0.19% and 0.13%, respectively, and in comparison to the analytical values, they are 0.34% and 1.5%, respectively.

Shape and topology optimization have become one of the main researches that is widely used in engineering fields. The purpose of topology optimization is to find an appropriate (optimal) distribution of materials in the design domain so that the shape and number of voids is optimized and the objective function is minimized or maximized. In recent decades, noticeable researches and various topology optimization methods were proposed. The level set method is being used successfully in structural shape and topology optimization. This method is an implicit method for moving interior and exterior boundaries, while these boundaries may join together during the process and new voids may be formed. The structural boundary is illustrated by the zero level set and nonzero in the domain. In the above context, the level set function is used as a switch to distinguish between the two domains present in the computing space. This way of illustration has an important feature by which the domain boundaries can be combined together or divided. By using the solution of Hamilton-Jacobi equation resulting from this function, the domain’ s boundary starts to move. The control over movement of this boundary is done by velocity vector of Hamilton-Jacobi equation. Now, in order to use this method in topology optimization, it is sufficient to establish a relationship between velocity vector of Hamilton-Jacobi and shape derivation, which is used for optimizing objective function. It is possible to use standard level set for structural topology optimization. In this paper, the spherical Hankel basis FUNCTIONS are used to optimize the structural topology using the level set method. The proposed FUNCTIONS are a combination of the first and second kind of Bessel FUNCTIONS fields as well as the polynomial ones in complex space and are derived from radial basis FUNCTIONS. Using the spherical Hankel FUNCTIONS, the dependence of the function of the level set method on the space and time is separated, which results in the transformation of the Hamilton-Jacobian partial differential equation into a conventional differential equation. In this way, the difficulties arising from solving partial differential equations are eliminated, and thus there is no need to re-set the function of the level set method in the optimization process. Further, in order to increase the speed and precision of convergence in creating an optimal design, the classic Lagrange shape FUNCTIONS are replaced with the spherical Hankel ones. The proposed shape FUNCTIONS have some properties such as infinite piecewise continuity, the Kronecker delta property, and the partition of unity. Moreover, since they satisfy all three polynomial fields and the first and second kind of Bessel ones in the complex space, they can be effective in improving the accuracy and speed of convergence, while the classic Lagrange shape FUNCTIONS are able to satisfy only the polynomial function fields. Finally, several numerical examples are presented to study the performance of the spherical Hankel radial basis and shape FUNCTIONS.

Background and Aim: Many theories have discussed the etiology of dyslexia in which defect in visual performance is the current one. Therefore, different rehabilitation exercises are recommended for elimination of related visual defects. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of BASIC visual FUNCTIONS on improving reading abilities among students with dyslexia. Materials and Methods: A total of twenty dyslexic children, 7-11 years of age, were randomly allocated into experimental (n=10) and control group (n=10). The experimental group performed training of visual rehabilitation through 10 sessions that consisted of accommodation facility (AF) training as well as Nejati cognitive rehabilitation program software (BASIC visual FUNCTIONS training). Control group, however, did not receive any treatment. AF and reading ability in both groups were assessed before and after intervention using the AF and Persian Reading Ability Tests, respectively.Results: The findings showed an improvement in reading accuracy and comprehension scores and a reduction in reading error score in the experimental group after visual rehabilitation intervention (p≤0.0005); Whereas, there was not any improvement in the control group.Conclusion: According to the results, it seems that BASIC visual FUNCTIONS rehabilitation could improve reading ability in dyslexic children.