A framework for implementing sustainable tourism in national parks of Iran: development and use of sustainable tourism indicators in Boujagh National Park, Iran

Despite the fact that national parks and other protected areas are mostly adopting the sustainable development process, it was found that sustainability has yet to be perceived pragmatically in these areas. Due to its process, this paper presents a monitoring framework approach to develop and implement indicators for sustainable tourism. To illustrate the application of the framework, a set of indicators were developed and used by way of an iterative Delphi survey conducted to seek expert opinions on the sustainability indicators to monitor tourism development in Boujagh National Park. This park was the subject of a case study, even though with lack of data. The results of this research confirmed in developing a set of 20 indicators, which emphasised on issues related to visitor satisfaction, economy, environment and society. It is the first step in a long-term process toward developing adapted indicators for national park monitoring and will allow decision-makers to enhance the sustainability of tourism development in Boujagh National Park

An examination of the effects of push and pull factors on Iranian national parks: Boujagh National Park, Iran

This article analyses the push and pull factors that bring visitors to the Iranian national parks. The study used a structured questionnaire to collect data on these factors and the socio-demographic profile of the visitors. Survey conducted in Boujagh National Park, an area of 3177 hectares located in the north of the Iran, produced 400 questionnaires. The factor analysis identified four push and six pull factors underlying visitors’ motives to visit the park. Difference in the push and pull factors in different socio-demographic groups were investigated. It was found that visitors are pushed to the park for relaxing, and pulled by nature as a product. It was also clear that gender, marital status and province of the residence had not a significant influence on the push and pull factors. With the current number of other type of tourism competing for nature based tourism, this kind of information can imply that the management of national parks should not only focus on the identified travel motives, but also focus on other push and pull factors, in order to contribute to the sustainability of parks’ development

Multi-dimension Tensor Factorization Collaborative Filtering Recommendation for Academic Profiles

The choice of academic itineraries and/or optional subjects to attend is not usually an easy decision since, in most cases, students lack the information, maturity, and knowledge required to make right decisions. This paper evaluates the support of Collaborative Systems for helping and guiding students in this decision-making process, considering the behavior and impact of these systems on the use of data different from the formal information the students usually use. For this purpose, the research applied the clustering based Multi-dimension Tensor Factorization approach to build a recommendation system and confirm that the increment in tensors improves the recommendation accuracy. As a result, this approach permits the user to take advantage of the contextual information to reduce the sparsity issue and increase the recommendation accuracy

Relationship between Critical Thinking Disposition and academic self-efficacy in Medical Clerks and Interns Students of Guilan

Introduction: Nowadays critical thinking and academic self-efficacy play an important role in supporting academic progress in higher education and achieving success in the work environment. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the relationship between the tendency to critical thinking and academic self-efficacy Medical Clerks and Interns Students of Guilan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was performed on 145 medical students in medical clerks and internships in 2021. Two questionnaires including critical thinking questionnaire and students’ academic self-efficacy questionnaire and demographic information were provided to the students. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics of the test (chi-square, independent t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient) through spss. Results: The results showed that a statistically significant relationship between academic self-efficacy and students' grade point average (P>0.001, x2=14.38). The study of students' critical thinking in three areas of creativity, maturity and commitment showed that 124 people (85.5%) had strong critical thinking.Also, There was a statistically significant difference between the tendency to critical thinking score with female gender (P=0.038, t=2.10), older age category (P=0.016, t=2.45) and higher academic average (P>0.001, f=11.78). Pearson correlation coefficient showed a positive correlation between tendency to critical thinking and academic self-efficacy(P>0.001, r=0.244) Conclusion: Due to the relationship between the tendency to critical thinking and academic self-efficacy in medical students, training and strengthening critical thinking in medical students can strengthen their professional self-efficacy and professional growth

Processing, Strength and Ductility of Bulk Nanostructured Metals Produced by Sever Plastic Deformation: An Overview

Nanostructured metals which have nano-scale microstructure are classified into ultrafine grained metals and nanocrystalline metals. In recent years, many processing techniques have been developed for producing nanostructured metals. Nanostructured metals possess ultrahigh strength but the low ductility is an important limitation on development of these materials for structural applications. This paper overviews various methods of producing nanostructured metals and recent investigations of strength and ductility of nanostructured metals processed by sever plastic deformation.</jats:p

Sustainable tourism development strategy by SWOT analysis: Boujagh National Park, Iran

This paper explores the applicability of transforming the current state of tourism in Boujagh National Park (BNP) (a region located in the northern Iran with an area of 3177. ha) to a sustainable tourism model. To plan and implement this, different management and decision making tools were used including interviews and questionnaire surveys as well as SWOT analysis. A series of interviews was conducted in order to identify actions taken by governmental bodies responsible (e.g., Department of Environment). In addition, the visitors of the park were surveyed to assess the rate of fulfillment of sustainable tourism development in the park. Local residents were also taken into account by using a survey to reveal the problems and attractions of the park. Results showed that the existing tourism activities in the park did not conform to sustainability requirements. Thus, a SWOT analysis was used to identify the required management strategies to improve the tourism in the park. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd