محمد کیخا

The Sistan plain in the north of Sistan and Baluchistan province in the southeast of Iran, with suitable biological conditions, including fertile soil, a series of permanent and seasonal rivers, and a communication and commercial position as one of the most important centers of human societie is known in ancient times. Based on this and despite the limited archaeological activities in this field and the lack of comprehensive archaeological information from the historical periods of the region, it is necessary to carry out a systematic study and survey on one of the most important Islamic castles of this plain. For this purpose, in July of 2015, during the survey and speculation project in order to determine the area and propose the boundaries of the Bibi Doost hill chain, a methodical survey of Madrish Castle, which is located in a part of the northern area of the Bibi Doost area It was done by using the method of "methodical sampling of classified indicators". In this sampling, 218 ancient findings such as: broken pieces of pottery, stone vessels, manganese (glass bangles) and broken pieces of glassware were collected. In line with the objectives of the research, 77 pieces of indicative pottery were selected and subjected to typological comparisons. In this research, the basic question is: What period or era is the age of Madrish Castle through classification, typology and comparative studies of pottery? The method of data collection in this research is field and document methods, and descriptive-comparative research method, and the results have been analyzed based on comparative studies. The results of the studies carried out in this site clearly indicate the settlement date of the middle centuries of 5th to 9th A.H. And it shows the cultural connection of this region with neighboring regions such as Greater Khorasan, Afghanistan, Kerman and Baluchistan. Also, the significant and abundant type of pottery in this area is the unglazed pottery with carved motifs and geometric motifs.

Zahedan city is located in the center of Sistan and Baluchistan province and is one of the areas with copper mines in the south-east of Iran, the surface of which had a lot of scattered metal slags. These sites are based on the study of surface finds related to the middle centuries of Islam. The questions raised in this research are based on: 1) What is the relationship between the distribution pattern of the metallurgical areas of Zahedan city with the environmental resources (mineral resources and fuel resources) and the old communication routes in this area? And 2) What is the relationship between the metallurgical areas of Zahedan city and the population centers of that time such as Sistan, Zahedan, Fahraj and Bam in Kerman province? Therefore, the purpose of this research is to know and why the formation of these ancient metallurgical sites and its relationship with the studied variables in this area. For this reason, the metallurgical areas of Zahedan city were first introduced and then, using the output maps from the GIS software, the distribution pattern of the metallurgical areas was analyzed and identified with the distribution pattern of mineral resources. According to the mentioned studies, it was found that most of the metallurgical areas of the region were highly dependent on copper mines, fuel sources and old communication routes in the region, and often near these mines, fuel sources and communication routes and caravanserais and castles exist between the centers. Bam-Fahraj-Nusrat-Abad-Zahedan-Sistan population has been formed.

One of the methods to study and identify the factors in archaeological studies is to study the pattern of settlement and settlement analysis, which examines the formation of ancient sites in a variety of environmental contexts. Fanouj County is located in the Baluchistan region in southeastern Iran. This county leads to Iranshahr City from the north to Kerman City and Bandar Abbas City from the west and to Nikshahr City from the east and south. The total area of Fanouj County is about 7730 square kilometers and its height above sea level is about 700 meters. Unlike other parts of Southeast Iran, this area is not well known from an archaeological point of view. This region is very diverse in terms of natural and geographical environment. The people that have lived in this land for millennia have adapted to the difficult environmental conditions of the region. However, this region covers areas from the Bronze Age to the Islamic era has placed itself. This study for the first time recognizes the issue of settlement patterns in this county. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify and why the formation of ancient sites in Fanouj County. In this regard, using ArcGIS and SPSS softwares, the settlement patterns of Fanuj County about various factors of natural geography have been analyzed and identified. According to the mentioned studies, it was found that most of the areas of the region were dependent on environmental and natural factors and often established their settlements near water sources.

Sistan plain is the center of the formation of significant and important areasin the late fourth millennium and early third millennium BC that have played a Fundamental role in Formation of human communities.  Archaeological surveys and excavations in Sistan region have been conducted with the aim of studying the archaeological position of this region and political, social and cultural developments in the Bronze Age. One of the most important ancient areas in the southern parts of the Sistan plain is the Hozdar region with an area of about 40 square kilometers. The first season of the project to survey and determine the area and propose the boundaries of Hozdar area under the supervision of Mohammad Keikha was done in 2019 and the area was surveyed systematically. During this Survey, 12 sites from the Bronze Age were identified and recorded, one of its important results is to study the developments that occurred in the Bronze Age and determine the position of the region in the chronological table of southeastern Iran. The main question raised in this research is: Based on cultural materials collected from the Bronze Age sites of Hozdar region, how is the relative chronology and cultural relations of this region with neighboring areas evaluated? According to studies conducted in Hozdar region, this region has a cultural continuity in the Bronze Age (simultaneously with the first period of Shahr-e Sokhteh to the fourth period of Shahr-e Sokhteh). During this period, due to the strategic position of the region, which is located along communication highways and also according to archaeological data, we see extensive cultural connections of Hozdar region settlements with neighboring regions, including North Sistan, Baluchistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Indus Valley and the civilizations of the Halil River Basin. The present Research, based on field studies and relying on descriptive-analytical method, to determine the relative chronology of the region and cultural relations of the mentioned area, studied cultural material

Baluchestan as a natural gateway of the Indian subcontinent has long attracted attention. Pottery, as a characteristic of artistic and applied styles of different periods, in addition to determining the age of a settlement, can help to know the social conditions, historical developments and the quality of trade exchanges. Therefore, one of the most basic ways to understand cultural connections in different periods is to study pottery. So far, no research has been done on Parthian pottery in Khash city, so in this study, the authors try to study the relative chronology of the Parthian sites of Khash city and how the cultural interactions inside and outside of this region based on the typological results of pottery by descriptive-analytical study of potteries. In order to achieve the mentioned purposes and to understand the trend of its cultural currents in the Parthian period, the following questions were raised: ?- What is the predominant decoration of Parthian pottery in Khash city? The predominant decoration of Parthian pottery in Khash city is painting. ?- What have been the cultural interactions inside and outside the region based on the typological results of pottery? The results of typology show that Khash city during the Parthian period with cultural regions of South Baluchistan, Sistan, Kerman, Greater Khorasan, some areas of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, Afghanistan and Pakistan. As a result, by comparing the typology of pottery, a relatively clear situation of the pottery industry of Khash city in the Parthian period and cultural connections within and outside the region of this city was revealed.

Central Nervous system provides body homeostasis and adaptation to environmental changes, thus deregulated nervous processes can accelerates aging. On the other hand, neurodegenerative disorders are age-dependent conditions. Since neurons are highly vulnerable to oxidative damage thus, the normal brain aging and neurodegenerative conditions share similar characteristics. Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent model organism to study brain aging and age-related neurodegenerative changes. It has been reported that human Tau over-expression in Drosophila brain leads to DNA oxidation and a wide spread chromatin relaxation leading to changes in expression level of specific target genes. In this study, in order to obtain a more accurate insight into the normal aging of the nervous system we quantified and compared expression levels of the same target genes in young flies (4 days old) and old flies (40 days old) of wild-type Oregon K Drosophila insects applying qRT-PCR technique. The results showed that a group of genes including Nvd, CG15115, Ir41a, CG15661 and Uif show decreased expression by getting aged, and CG40006, Dscam1, Ints3, and Gprk1 genes are up-regulated as the flies’ age is increased. The Snap25 gene expression did not change during aging. These results showed that as the age rises, the expression of the genes in the organisms of this living creature undergoes changes that are due to changes in the epigenetic patterns. But the observed changes are different than that of reported in tauopathy fly models. This pattern of changes in gene expression reflects reduction of metabolic and signaling activity and increased accumulation of damage in the cells, which ultimately leads to aging.