مطالب

This study examines the convergence of law, beauty standards, and feminist-Foucauldian theory, emphasising the influence of beauty myths on cultural norms and legal frameworks. Beauty standards, shaped by media, commercial, and legal structures, establish a restrictive and exclusive notion of beauty, frequently favouring lighter complexion, thinner physiques, and straight hair. These norms, devoid of a biological foundation, originate from social constructs that perpetuate patriarchal and capitalist ideologies. The law significantly reinforces these standars by normalizing certain physical traita and marginalising those who differ. Utilising Foucault’s notion of “disciplinary power,” the examination emphasises how individuals internalise societal norms and consciously modify their bodies to conform to these standards. It also attacks the legal system’s inadequacy in addressing body image discrimination, which exacerbates the marginalisation of individuals who diverge from conventional beauty standards. This study underscores the significance of intersectionality, asserting how beauty myths intersect with race, gender, and class, while urging legal frameworks that accommodate diverse body types to strengthen equality and protect against appearance-based discrimination.

A newly discovered Elamite rock relief in the Alhak region of central Izeh in southwestern Iran contributes significantly to the corpus of commemorative Elamite art. Unlike other well-known reliefs from the area—such as those at Kūl-i Farah, Shahsavar, and Khung-i Azhdar—this composition was carved onto a conglomerate rock surface, a medium both unique and inherently fragile, leading to its accelerated erosion and delayed recognition. The relief depicts a male figure seated in profile on a simple throne, raising his right hand in a gesture of reverence or supplication. A stepped platform lies before him, while a prominent solar disc hovers above his head—features resonant with iconographic motifs found on contemporaneous cylinder seals from Elam and Mesopotamia. Iconographic and stylistic parallels suggest that the Alhak relief belongs to the Shimashki cultural horizon (ca. 2000–1970 BCE). The absence of divine attributes—such as horned crowns or zoomorphic insignia—indicates that the figure is more plausibly interpreted as a royal personage engaged in ritual devotion rather than a deity. The rightward orientation of the seated figure, in contrast to the left-facing postures of most Izeh reliefs, further underscores its distinctiveness. This discovery broadens our understanding of regional variability within Elamite rock art. It highlights the cultural resilience of Elamite traditions in the highlands following the collapse of lowland power centers such as Susa. Future investigations employing advanced imaging technologies (e.g., 3D scanning and photogrammetry) are essential for recovering lost details and refining our interpretation of the relief’s symbolic schema.

This article examines how identity, nostalgia, and belonging impact Nicolas Urfe in John Fowles’s The Magus (1965). Drawing upon Homi Bhabha’s “Hybridity”, Stuart Hall’s “Cultural Identity”, and William Safran’s “Myth of Homeland”, the objective of this article is to recognize the futility underlying Nicolas’s relentless endeavors to establish a sense of belonging and reconcile with his inner turmoil and inherent desire in order to reveal the origins of his internal conflicts, such as anxiety, restlessness, and rootlessness. The significance of this article lies in its endeavor to analyze the diasporic experience on an individual ground that does not align with the typical paradigms of Nicolas’s relocation. This article also explores whether Nicolas feels a sense of belonging to a particular place that he can consider as home. We try to respond to two fundamental questions, namely what influences exist behind the adoption or rejection of a new self-identity by Nicolas in Fowles’s The Magus?, and does Nicolas with multi-layered identity associate with both native land and hostland, namely England and Greece, respectively in Fowles’s The Magus? In order to fill the existing gap, we explore how Nicolas’s identity oscillates between pre-immigration and post-immigration spaces, namely England and Greece, respectively.

In data-driven marketing, customer behavior analysis plays a crucial role in developing targeted marketing strategies aimed at increasing return on investment, enhancing profitability, and gaining a larger market share. In this study, four clustering methods- including K-means, density-based clustering, principal component analysis, and hierarchical clustering- as well as four classification methods- including Support Vector Machine, XGBoost, Random Forest, and Gradient Boosting- are examined for customer behavior analysis. The data for this study was extracted from the "Amazon Customer Behavior Survey" dataset, which includes 23 features from 602 customers. Initially, the data was preprocessed, and then, using clustering methods, customers were divided into different groups. The performance of these methods was evaluated based on criteria such as the silhouette index, and ultimately, appropriate marketing strategies for each cluster were proposed. Additionally, to examine the possibility of predicting customer membership in the extracted clusters, the aforementioned classification models were implemented and compared. The results indicate that the K-means method performed the best in clustering, while the XGBoost model performed the best in classification. The innovation of this research lies in combining clustering and classification methods to provide targeted marketing strategies and comprehensively comparing these methods on real customer data. This study demonstrates that combining clustering and classification methods can help businesses better understand customer behavior and make more optimal marketing decisions.

As a trigger to communication, motivation still includes undiscovered aspects which require further investigation. Hence, considering the newly proposed dual continuum model of motivation, this study investigated the relationships among willingness to communicate (WTC), active/passive motivation, and foreign language achievement (FLA) among 216 high school English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. The modified version of the active/passive motivation scale (APMS) was revalidated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed significant relationships among active/passive motivation, L2WTC, and FLA. Additionally, six models were proposed for the prediction of learners’ L2WTC and FLA. The findings indicated that socio-cultural and sensory-perceptual active motivation as well as cognitive and sensory-perceptual passive motivation significantly predict learners’ L2WTC, while only cognitive active motivation predicts FLA. Furthermore, passive motivation predicts FLA in all sub-constructs. Finally, active motivation is a negative predictor of FLA if mediated by L2WTC. Overall, the study highlights the importance of passive as well as active motivation in promoting WTC and improving FLA among EFL learners.

English Medium Instruction (EMI) is increasingly adopted in higher education worldwide, yet its application in music education within non-English-speaking contexts remains underexplored. The application of EMI plays a crucial role in improving learners' English skills and subject matter, which can also affect learners' achievement. The most important predictor of learners' performance and success is self-efficacy, which is also a relevant concept in the area of music performance. This Review investigates the role of self-efficacy in shaping music students' academic achievement in EMI settings, where language and performance intersect. The study aims to identify how learners' self-efficacy in their musical and linguistic abilities influences their success and motivation. It contributes to EMI literature by highlighting self-efficacy as a mediating factor between language proficiency and academic performance in music education. The findings offer practical implications for curriculum design, instructional strategies, and learner support. Specifically, the study emphasizes the need to integrate self-efficacy-building practices—such as performance feedback, peer collaboration, and goal-setting—into EMI-based music instruction to enhance both linguistic and artistic development.

This study aimed to identify the challenges and drivers of AI-based electronic marketing in the sports industry of Iran. The research employed a qualitative approach with thematic analysis. The research population consisted of academic and organizational experts in the sports industry. Sampling was conducted using purposive (judgmental) and snowball methods, and interviews continued until theoretical saturation reached at the twelfth interview. To validate the research, the triangulation of data sources, peer review, and participant review method was utilized. Additionally, to check reliability, inter-coder reliability and test-retest reliability were employed. Data analysis was performed using MAXQDA2020 software in three stages of coding (instance, main theme, sub-theme). The results indicated that the challenges of AI-based electronic marketing in the Iranian sports industry include "service quality assurance, customer rights enforcement, security and privacy protection, inadequate employee knowledge and skills, lack of appropriate statutes and regulations, incorrect audience recognition and needs assessment, lack of focus on disruptive technologies, improper use of AI, increased internet consumption for unsolicited advertisements." The drivers encompass "providing low-interest loans, training and skill development, utilizing digital technologies, applying marketing mix, knowledgeable and informed management, holding briefing sessions, customer communication channels, research development, information dissemination and advertising, standard formulation, governmental support, smart technology development and application, investment, motivation and hope for progress, tax exemptions, culture building, business coaching, academic education, infrastructure and equipment, and branding.

The widespread integration of technology into education has led to significant reliance on online assessment. Despite its prevalence, concerns about the fairness of online assessment persist. While this issue has attracted considerable attention, empirical investigations, particularly those exploring teachers' perceptions of fairness in online assessment, remain scarce. Additionally, existing frameworks for assessing fairness in an online context seem inadequate. To address these concerns, the current study investigated Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' perceptions of fairness in online assessment. Moreover, the study aimed to develop a valid scale to measure the fairness of assessment practices in the online context. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study conducted a structured interview with 20 EFL teachers, and the resulting data were transcribed and analyzed qualitatively. Ten major codes or themes derived from the data were access, knowledge, personal factors, clear criteria, item quality, safety, policies, teaching quality, assessment type, and administration. The codes were subsequently classified into three overarching categories: student level, teacher level, and organizational level. Then, based on the interview findings and the existing literature, an online assessment fairness questionnaire was developed and administered to a sample of 100 EFL teachers, whose results verified five core factors of online assessment fairness. The study's findings offer a novel understanding of teachers' perspectives on the fairness of online assessment and the factors that contribute to its fairness or unfairness.