شهناز دانش

The level of air pollution presents a twofold threat to human health and plant life, thereby resulting in economic losses for countries on an annual basis. This investigation specifically focuses on the province of Khuzestan, which has experienced considerable pollution from fine dust in recent years and is noteworthy for its diverse vegetation. By analyzing air quality data acquired from the Environment Agency regarding PM10 and utilizing NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) images captured by the MODIS satellite, this study examines the impact of fine dust on vegetation. Differential calculations were performed on the PM10 data and NDVI values across different seasons in order to achieve this objective. Updated maps of Khuzestan were constructed by merging Landsat imagery with the province's land use map, employing supervised classification model to monitor vegetation production and utilization across diverse categories such as agriculture, reeds, pasture, and forest. Subsequently, the datasets were segregated based on vegetation type, and Pearson's correlation coefficient was computed to evaluate the relationship between PM10 concentration and changes in vegetation (dNDVI) within each category. The results emphasize a spatial correlation between PM10 concentration and changes in vegetation index for reed and agriculture land uses during a single season, with the highest correlation observed during the summer season throughout the year.

Environmental protection is one of the most important factors of sustainable development, so that the political and economic growth of countries, regardless of it, is worthless. Considering the role and position of separating walls in construction, the present study, has investigated the environmental effects of common separating wall systems in Iran. For this purpose, seven environmental parameters including: Energy Consumption in Construction Process, Consumption of Important Resources and Raw Materials, Water Consumption in Construction Process, CO2 Production Due to Energy Consumption in the process of construction, the amount of thermal resistance of the walls, the amount of waste produced by the implementation of the walls and the beauty of the walls are considered as evaluation criteria. Regarding these criteria and using the TOPSIS method, this study evaluates the five most common separating wall systems in Iran and determine the most compatible eco-friendly system. Five different types of walls, including solid clay (SC) bricks, hollow clay (HC) blocks, autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) blocks, three-dimensional (3D) sandwich panels and gypsum boards were investigated in this regard. The results show that according to experts, among the mentioned criteria, the criterion of "water consumption" with a relative value of 0.195 is the best and the criterion of "beauty" with a relative value of 0.049 is the least important. Thus, the results of this study, on the basis of all criteria, showed that the gypsum board has the most and the 3D sandwich panels has the least environmental compatibility.

Nematodes are well-known due to their resistance to disinfectants and their ability to ingest and carry pathogens to water distribution systems. Coagulation and filtration play significant roles in removing these organisms in water treatment plants. Investigating the effect of different parameters on the nematodes removal has always been an interest to researchers. However, the simultaneous evaluation of these parameters needs a comprehensive statistical analysis. In this study, the effects of ferric chloride dosage, filter media type, and filtration rate were investigated on the removal efficiency of turbidity and nematodes in direct filtration process using response surface methodology and central composite face-centered design. Based on the results, the average removal efficiency of turbidity, motile nematodes and non-motile nematodes in single-media filter were 96.14, 94.02 and 41.39%, respectively. Meanwhile, these numbers for dual-media filter were obtained as 96.61, 95.76 and 46.01%, respectively. With the increase in coagulant dosage, the removal efficiency of nematodes was improved significantly. Furthermore, the removal efficiency of non-motile nematodes was increased as the filtration rate decreased. However, an increase in the filtration rate led to an unexpected increase in the removal efficiency of motile nematodes. This distinct behavior of the nematodes led to the independence of total nematodes removal from the filtration rate. According to the results, using the direct filtration process is suggested, when the turbidity of raw water is lower than 5 NTU. However, primary disinfection must be applied to immobilize the nematodes and compensate the weakness of granular beds in the removal of motile nematodes.

The techniques and types of materials used in construction sites are very important considering mechanical, environmental and economical issues. Separating different parts of a building from each other and protect the interior space from outside environment requires effective walls. In order to satisfy needs such as lowering cost, increasing speed and minimizing overall energy consumption of buildings, construction material industries produce and introduce different types of separating walls for buildings. This research was conducted to assess the environmental, economical, technical and operational impacts of different types of separating walls. Five different types of walls, including solid clay (SC) bricks, hollow clay (HC) blocks, autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) blocks, three-dimensional (3D) sandwich panels and gypsum boards were investigated in this regard. The goal was to find the most effective type of separating wall among the choices investigated. Each of the fore mentioned criteria were divided into several sub-criteria, and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), as one of the best-known multi-criteria decision-making methods, was implemented in the assessments. Evaluations were based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria. Technical data and information were used for quantitative criteria and different types questionnaires were developed regarding the qualitative criteria. The results of this study, on the basis of all criteria, showed that the gypsum board with the relative priority value of 0.368, is the best choice between the assessed separating walls. The calculated relative priority values of AAC blocks, HC blocks, SC bricks, and 3D panels were 0.177, 0.152, 0.151 and 0.144 respectively.

Khajoo fish is one of native fishes existing in the northeast of country. Regarding the ability of this species to live in the different habitats, 124 fishes from Tajan and Kavir basins were caught in seven different locations in the northeast of Iran. The left side of the samples was shot and 17 landmarks (sign mark) were digitized to extract body shape data. There was a significant difference between the bodies shapes of all five populations studied. Most of these differences were related to changes in the muzzle region, head depth, chest and thoracic position, indicating the flexibility of these parts in response to the environmental conditions of the habitat of the populations under study. Having a mouth with abdominal position, head shape, spindly body shape were common features among members of this species, which could indicate the generality of the shape of the body of this species, which for species that are found in variable environments such as rivers life, can be an advantage.

Shear strength is one of the most important features in mechanical behavior of soils. The shear strength of unsaturated soils is still a controversial discussion between the researchers in this field. The methods of determining unsaturated shear strength are classified into two major categories; one of them employs two independent stress variables namely matric suction and net stress and saturated and unsaturated strength parameters are considered to be independent. In other words, as soon as the pore water pressure becomes negative, the saturated effective friction angle and cohesion become invalid. This approach became dominant especially since the validity of effective stress in unsaturated soils was questioned because it was not clear how to describe the collapse phenomenon through effective stress concept. In late 90’s some researchers referred back to effective stress concept and some ambiguity in explaining collapse was resolved. In this approach, effective stress is the main stress variable. Net stress and suction are combined into effective stress. The saturated and unsaturated shear strength parameters are assumed are not assumed to be independent from each other and there is a smooth transition between saturated and unsaturated soil modeling. In this research these two approaches are compared by means of unsaturated direct shear experiments and some relevant experimental data from literature. The advantages and shortcomings of the mentioned methods are analyzed. In the direct shear experiments, a wide range of soil suction was applied to the samples. Therefore it is possible to compare the effective stress and independent stress approaches in a wide range of suctions. The suctions of samples were measured by filter paper method. By plotting the failure envelopes in two approaches, the advantage of effective stress approach over the approach of independent stress variables is obvious. This advantage is especially drastic at higher suctions. The experimental data from literature similarly revealed this result. Thus it can be stated that effective stress approach is simpler and less time consuming since the failure envelope is a unique line for all suctions and strength parameters of a soil at saturated and unsaturated states are identical. On the contrary of independent stress variable approach, it is not required to measure strength parameters at various suctions. In the other words, if the effective stress is properly estimated, the unsaturated shear strength can be predicted straightforwardly. Effective stress parameter is the key factor for appropriate evaluation of effective stress in unsaturated soils. One of the highly cited proposed equations for effective stress parameter is verified by experimental data. The values of predicted effective stress parameter and the values measured from experiment are plotted versus suction. There is a good agreement between the effective stress parameters calculated from the equation and those measured from experimental data. Therefore it can be concluded that the empirical equation can accurately predict the effective stress parameter. It is worth mentioning that by normalizing the suction through dividing it into air entry suction, the effective stress parameter versus normalized suction becomes a unique line regardless of soil type. Thus the effect of soil type and its structure is normalized by means of using suction ratio.

IntroductionIndustrialization has been the cause of environmental pollution and one of significant pollutant is that of heavy metals. These hazardous elements can cause to water and soil pollution. These metals can accumulate in the food chain and create damages for human and livestock. Researchers revealed that increasing Cd, Pb, Cu, Mn and Zn concentrations caused to decreasing of shoot fresh weight and essential oil yield. Scavroni et al (2005) indicated that peppermint was able to accumulate the heavy metals in shoot tissues but did not enter into essential oil. Therefore study the effect of heavy metals on morphological and quantitative traits of medicinal plants is essential.
Material and MethodThe experiment was done in the research greenhouse of the Agricultural Faculty of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2011.The treatments were arranged basis on a randomized block design with three replications. Treatments were included T1:0, T2:10 ppm cd , T3:20 ppm cd,T4:40 ppm cd,T5:60 ppm cd,T6:80 ppm cd cd,T7:100 ppm cd,T8:100ppm pb, T9:300 ppm pb, T10: 600 ppm pb, T11: 900 ppm pb, T12: 1200 ppm pb and T13: 1500 ppm pb. Peppermint was cultivated with uniform weight rhizomes harvested from the research farm of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Every rhizome had two buds and six rhizomes were planted in pots of dimensions 30×50×35 cm. Treatments were irrigated with cdcl2 and pbcl2 with the administered doses and control was irrigated with distilled water. Plants were harvested two times at the first stages of flowering. The essential oil percentage was measured with 30 grams of dried leaves by Clevenger device.
Result and DiscussionIncreasing cadmium and lead concentrations caused a decline of fresh and dry weight, main stem height, leaf area per plant, leaf number per plant, number of nodes per plant and essential oil percentage compared to the control. At the first harvest, increasing doses of Cd caused a decrease of fresh weight. This decline was 18.16% at 100 ppm Cd and was 24.55% at 1500 ppm Pb compared to the control. At the second harvest, fresh weight declined by 15.24% and 32.72% compared to the control at 100 ppm cadmium and 1500 ppm lead, respectively. At the highest concentrations of Cd and Pb, dry weight of peppermint was dropped 22.92% and 25.88% at the first harvest. For the second harvest, decreased dry weights were 39.01% and 26.77% compared to the control, respectively. Stancheva et al (2010) revealed that increasing cadmium and lead concentrations caused to the shoot and root weights of sage (salvia officinalis L.) declined by 15 and 10%, respectively. They mentioned the glutathione-ascorbate cycle plays a vital role in neutralizing the destructive effects of ROS in sage. In this cycle, guaiacol peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase and catalase enzymes increase and lead to diminish the ROS activity. In the same doses of cadmium and lead (100 ppm), cadmium had a more reductive effects than lead for all traits except for essential oil at the first harvest. This event is due to more toxicity of cadmium compared to lead. The toxicity threshold of cadmium and lead was reported 5 and 30 mg kg-1. Tirillini et al., (2006) reported that hypericin content in essential oil of hypericum perforatum L. was not affected by chrome stress.
ConclusionEssential oil, fresh and dry weight of peppermint did not show any significant change when the concentrations of cd and pb were maximum, so it seems that peppermint can be cultivated in polluted water or soil with cadmium and lead.

Nowadays, one of the most important subjects concerning environmental quality is urban renewal and air pollution. Therefore, governments should strive to take various policies and programs to overcome the environmental problems including air pollution or negative effects of human functions on environment. This study uses an input-output table of the Khorasan-Razavi province in 2001 and amount of pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions to survey the welfare and environmental effects on decline of subsidy on fossil fuels. For this purpose, using MCP and GAMS software, welfare changes with and without environmental impact, changes in demand for fossil fuels and changes in pollutants for 4 scenarios have been studied. Results showed that the elimination of subsidy on fossil fuels would reduce the demand for fossil fuels as an intermediate input and final good. If the environmental effects are considered, in the all scenarios, the welfare changes will be positive and the welfare will increase with the omitting rate increase. The highest growth rate of welfare is obtained to be15%.

Anaerobic digestion of slaughterhouse solid wastes, such as rumen contents, is an appropriate treatment option for managing such residues, because of their significant role in reducing the environmental impacts as well as the potential for biogas production. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of retention time and substrate type on the biogas and alkalinity productions during anaerobic digestion of rumen contents.
This study aimed to investigate the effects of retention time and substrate type on biogas and alkalinity productions of slaughterhouse wastes using one liter anaerobic digester with batch flow. Experiments were performed at temperature of 35°C and retention time of 30 days with three types of substrate: cattle rumen contents, sheep rumen contents and their mixture (mixing ratio 1:1) with total solids of 6.5, 9.1 and 8.0%, respectively.
Maximum alkalinity was found in the digester containing cattle rumen contents as it increased pH. Thus, the highest cumulative biogas and methane yields obtained for these digesters were 286.1 and 80.7 mL/g VSdegraded respectively.
In general, it can be concluded that in the process of anaerobic digestion of rumen contents (regardless of substrate type and retention time), pH of the reactors can play a major role in biogas and methane productions. Thus, to prevent pH drop and to provide a suitable environment for the growth and activity of microorganisms, addition of an alkaline substance is required.

Accumulation of heavy metals in agronomic soils continuously by contaminated waste waters not only causes to contamination of soils but also it affects food quality and security. Cadmium and lead are one of the most important heavy metals due to long permanence and persistence in soil can cause problems to human and animal health. Some medicinal plants are able to accumulate of heavy metals from contaminated soils. Heavy metals are not able to enter in the essential oil of some aromatic plants. Study of these plants helps human to select them for cultivating the resistant medicinal plants in contaminated soils.
This experiment was carried out in the research greenhouse of agriculture faculty of Ferdowsi university of Mashhad in 2011. Seeds were cultivated in planting aprons into peat moss medium. Then the uniform plantlets were transferred into soil in the plastic boxes (30×50×35 cm) at two leaf stage. In each box 6 plantlets were sown with distance of 15 cm on the planting rows and 20 cm between rows. Experiment was set up as factorial on the basis of randomized complete block design with three replications. The first factor was cadmium concentrations consisted of 0,10,20,40 mg per kilogram and the second factor was lead concentrations consisted of 0,100,300 and 600 mg/kg. Plants were irrigated during of15 weeks with cadmium and lead nitrogen nitrate solutions and then irrigated with distilled water. The differences of nitrogen amounts in treatments were compensated with ammonium nitrate on the basis of differences between level of the highest treatment and the treatment which obtained lower amount of nitrogen. Plants were harvested after 180 days at the beginning of flowering. All shoots and roots were weighted separately as fresh weight and then were dried under shading and then were weighted. The essential oil sage was determined by using of 30 grams of dried sage leaves with distillation method with Clevenger. Cadmium and lead contents in shoot and root were measured by wet digestion method (digestion by Perchloric and Nitric acid). Cadmium and lead contents were detected by atomic absorption apparartus. Data were analyzed by MSTATC software and all means were compared by DMRT at 5% of probability.
Result and Results argued that fresh weight of sage at 40 mg/kg of cadmium were decreased 4.61% as compare as control. Dry weight of sage decreased at 600 mg/kg of lead 11.08 % as compare of control. Mean comparisons indicated that at the highest concentrations of cadmium and lead fresh and dry weight of sage were dropped. Growth decrement due to toxicity of cadmium causes to photosynthesis and respiration decline, carbohydrate metabolism decreasing and leaf chlorosis. Researchers observed lead ions by interfering with water balance lead to water stress. High concentrations of lead may cause to decrease the availability of water for plant and high concentrations of cadmium causes to disturb the protein synthesis and lead to protein decline in plant cells. Plant height of sage was declined at 40 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg as compared as control 14.17 and 10.83, respectively. Essential oil in sage was dropped in high levels of cadmium and lead as compare of control 12 and 14.51, respectively. Researchers stated that cadmium concentrations of 2,6 and 10 mg/lit and 50,100 and 500 mg/kg of lead had no significant effect on peppermint, but caused to drop the essential oil percentage of dill and basil.
Disturbance of carbon nutrition in plant cells during the photosynthesis process by heavy metals lead to a decrease in the essential content. The most cadmium absorption by sage shoots belonged to 40 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg of cadmium and lead, respectively and then 40 mg/kg cadmium and 300 mg/kg lead were ranked as second treatment. Increase of cadmium and lead concentrations in irrigation water led to increase of these heavy metals into sage shoots. Increase of lead and cadmium concentrations caused to antagonistic effects of cadmium and lead absorption into shoots of sage. In this experiment cadmium and lead concentrations of all treatments were too below to detect by atomic absorption apparatus. In this study cadmium and lead could not enter to essential oil. Researchers stated that high doses of cadmium, lead, zinc and copper concentrations could not enter into essential oil in sage. Some researchers showed that cadmium, lead and copper were not transferred to essential oil of peppermint, dill and basil during the essential oil distillation process. This finding confirmed that selection of medicinal plants as alternative plants with crops in cadmium and lead contaminated soils.
Fresh and dry weight of Sage in the condition of contaminated soil by 100 mg/kg cadmium and 600 mg/kg lead were declined 4.61 and 5.16 % as compare as control, respectively. At the highest doses of cadmium and lead the essential oil of sage were dropped but, these heavy metals were not detected in essential oil. So, it is seems that this medicinal plant may be applied in the contaminated soil or in the condition of using of contaminated irrigated water by cadmium and lead.

Water resources limitation in the Neishaboor Plain, in addition to a significant increase in water demand in urban, agricultural and industrial sectors, has caused researchers to investigate and provide the basic information necessary for development of a sustainable water management program. In this study the temporal changes in groundwater quality and the possible causes of these fluctuations were studied.
The water quality data used in this investigation included a 9 year (2001-2009) periodically measurements of TDS, total hardness, Na, Ca2, Mg2, Cl- and SO4 2- concentrations.
The results, as were shown by the changes in parameters such as TDS, SAR and hardness indicated a significant degradation of groundwater quality over the period included in this study. The TDS concentration in 77% of the investigated wells increased substantially over this period, with mean increase of 19.63 mg/lit.yr. In regard to possible causes of groundwater deterioration, the decline in groundwater level, geological formations and agricultural activities were considered to be the most important factors. The results showed that for every 0.81m mean annual decline in groundwater level, the TDS concentration increased by a value of 19.63 mg/lit. The geological tertiary formations (Miocene) and volcanic rocks could also be included among the factors affecting the spatial quality changes observed in some parts of the Nayshaboor's aquifer.
The result of this study clearly indicated that there is a strong correlation between the groundwater level decline and the increase in salt concentration of the aquifer. However, due to the lack of adequate data and information, definitive statements on the relative contribution of agricultural activities and geological formation on groundwater quality changes could not be made.

The current research was conducted to reduce the environmental problems associated with solid wastes producted in cities. The main objective of this research were to investigate : a) The applicability of recycling of the city of Mashhad municipal solid wastes through its conversion to vermicompost and b) The effects of different substrate mixtures on the process efficiency, the quality of the final composting product, and on the trend of change in number and biomass of the earthworms. This research was performed in a complete randomized design with five types of substrate mixture and with three replica for each type of treatment. The substrate mixtures included municipal solid wastes and cow manure (both pretreated) in percent ratios of 20:80, 40:60, 60:40, 80:20 and 100%, respectively (on the basis of total dry matter). The units with 100% municipal solid wastes were considered as control units. The earthworms Eisenia fetida was used in this work. The experimental period lasted 80 days. During the course of this study, various physical, chemical and biological parameters such as TVS, TOC, TKN, TP, TK, TNa (all measured as percentage of total dry matter), C/N ratio, pH, EC as well as the number and biomass of earthworms were measured regularly. Statistical assessment of the results was done using SPSS software. The results showed a significant reduction in TOC, TVS, pH, and the C/N ratio of the substrates in all treatment units, as compared to their initial values. However, the change in substrate TKN, TP, TK, TNa, and EC followed a significant increase during the experimental period. Moreover the measurements indicated a considerable increase in the number and biomass of Eisenia fetida in every treatment units. The treatment units consisted of 100% municipal solid wastes showed the best results from the viewpoints of stabilization of organic matter, fertilization value of the final compost produce, and the amount of earthworms biomass produced. This indicates that in such units the environmental conditions were more suitable for the biological activities of the earthworms and microorganisms. As a result for vermicomposting of municipal solid wastes there is no need for addition of additives such as cow manure to the substrate.The results of this research also showed that the process of vermicomposting in all treatment units were accomplished during the first 60 days of the experimental period.

In this work, the performance of two treatment plants in the City of Mashhad, one with an aerated lagoons system and the other one with waste stabilization ponds system were evaluated in regard to their efficiency in reduction of pathogenic microorganisms. For this purpose, over a period of one year (with 15-days intervals), samples were taken from the influent and effluent (prior to disinfection unit) of the above mentioned treatment plants. The samples then were analyzed for parameters such as temperature, pH, density of total coliforms (TC) and fecal coliforms (FC), dissolved oxygen and total suspended solids concentration. The results indicated that the aerated lagoons system was much more efficient in removal of indicator bacteria than the waste stabilization ponds during autumn and winter periods. However during the summer months, the waste stabilization ponds showed a higher efficiency in this regard. In general, the waste stabilization ponds system reduced the density of TC and FC by 0.21-2.15 log10 and 0.20-2.33 log10, respectively. In contrast, the levels of reduction in aerated lagoons system were in the range of 0.29-2.03 log10 for TC and 0.42-2.40 log10 for FC. Results indicated that solar intensity, pH and dissolved oxygen concentration were found to be the most significant parameters that reduced the microorganisms population in waste stabilization ponds, While, in the aerated lagoons system, the dissolved oxygen concentration in aerated basin and solar intensity play the most important role. In general, without receiving an adequate disinfection, the effluent from waste stabilization ponds and aerated lagoons cannot provide the microbiological standards required for irrigation of agricultural crops.

In this research، the quality of the effluent from the City of Mashhad wastewater treatment plants was evaluated based on Ayers and Westcot irrigation water quality guideline، and the potential impacts of these effluents on soil and plants were assessed. For this purpose، the effluent from each of the three existing wastewater treatment plants was sampled on a regular basis، for a period of one year، and their parameters of importance in regard to the agricultural use such as pH، electrical conductivity (EC)، concentrations of Sodium، Calcium، Magnesium، Chloride، Boron، Nitrate (NO3-N)، bicarbonate and heavy metals were measured. Based on the obtained results، the agricultural use of the effluents from the wastewater treatment plants has severe restriction in regard to the bicarbonate concentrations (8-12. 1 meq/L). Also، in view points of parameters such as EC (1250-1874 µS/cm)، Sodium (5. 8-8. 7 as SAR)، Chloride (3. 2-6. 5 meq/L) and adj RNa (7. 8-11. 7)، the effluents were categorized in the class of waters with low to moderate restrictions. However، the measured values of pH (7. 3-8)، Boron (0. 2-0. 8 mg/L)، Nitrate Nitrogen (0. 5-4. 2 mg/L) and heavy metals did not indicate any restrictions for agricultural use. From the results of this research، it can be concluded that the use of effluent as irrigation water requires careful planning، monitoring and management strategies.

The use of unconventional water sources (e. g. wastewater treatment plants effluent) as well as the use of high efficient irrigation systems (e. g. drip irrigation systems) has found special merit in today''s water resource management in agriculture. Drip irrigation systems، however، can lead to operational problems such as clogging، precipitation and corrosion of pipes and emitters، especially when effluent from wastewater treatment plants is used as the main source of irrigation. Such problems can shorten the irrigation system life cycle and increase the maintenance costs، significantly. In this research، the quality of effluents from the city of Mashhad Wastewater Treatment Plants (Olang، Parkand Abad 1، and Parkand Abad 2) were evaluated in order to assess the feasibility of using drip irrigation systems. For this purpose، the main parameters of importance in clogging and corrosion of drip irrigation systems such as pH، total dissolved solids، total suspended solids، Iron، Manganese and total coliform bacteria contents of the effluents were measured regularly over a period of one year. The results of the study indicated that the use of drip irrigation system is strongly limited due to the high concentration of bacteria in the effluents (4. 8-7. 3 log CFU/100 mL)، which can initiate clogging of pipes and emitters. In regard to other effluent quality parameters including pH (7. 3-8)، TDS (800-1200 mg/L)، TSS (42-138 mg/L)، Iron (0. 2-0. 6 mg/L)، Manganese (0. 1-0. 4 mg/L) and langelier saturation index (LSI) (-0. 7-0. 6)، application of drip irrigation systems also encountered limitations in the range of low to moderate levels. In summary، in order to reduce the operational problems associated with drip irrigation systems، the use of advanced methods for further treatment of the effluents such as filtration، membrane treatment، and the use of appropriate chemicals are recommended.

In this research a fuzzy decision making model was presented to assess and rank various water desalination methods and ultimately select the best alternative. The desalination alternatives which were investigated included Reverse Osmosis، Electrodialysis، Multi-Stage Flash Distillation، Multi-Effect Distillation، Vapor Compression and Ion Exchange. The model was carried out in three steps: problem definition، fuzzy computations and ranking of alternatives. The hierarchy structure used for problem definition included 5 levels of: goal، main criteria، sub-criteria، factors، and desalination alternatives. The criteria، sub-criteria and factors and the relative importance of each were determined based on the experts'' opinions and the literature results. In the next step، by using Chang''s extent analysis، various desalination alternatives were evaluated on the basis of the selected criteria، sub-criteria and factors. For assessment of accuracy and its practical application، the model was used in a case study concerning quality management of the brackish water from a number of wells located in the City of Torbat-e-Heydaryieh. The results of the research indicated that the Electrodialysis process، with the final weight of 0. 255، was the best method of desalination for the investigated wells. The sensitivity analysis also showed that the fuzzy model has a low degree of sensitivity in regard to the changes in criteria weights، meaning that the results are adequately reliable. The results furthermore pointed out that the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process can be used as an efficient tool for systematic decision making in the area of qualitative water resource management.

One of the most important government's challenges is the environmental crisis; therefore governments should strive to take various policies and programs to overcome environmental problems including air pollution or reduce negative effects of human functionson environment. This study has tried by using input- output table in 2001 and amount of pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions to survey of welfare and environmental effects on the green tax and decline subsidy on fuels. For this purpose, using MCP and software GAMS welfare changes with and without environmental impact,changes in energy demand and changes in three pollutants CO2, NOX and CH in the five tax scenarios have been studied. Results of study showed, green tax reduce demand for fossil fuel as intermediate input and final goods. If the environmental effects are considered, in the all scenarios, the welfare changes were positive and the welfare increase as the tax rate increases; in the other words, the increasing taxes on fossil fuels is desirable. In the both policy, the highest growth rate of the welfare is tax rate 10% (scenario III).

One of the major aspects of water resources management in the arid and semi-arid regions is the use of unconventional water sources such as effluents from wastewater treatment plants. As a result, assessment of water supply potential as well as fertilizer values of these unconventional water sources is an important issue in any comprehensive resource management program. In this study, the water supply potential and fertilizer values of the effluents from the City of Mashhad wastewater treatment plants (Olang, Parkand-Abad #1 & Parkand-Abad #2) was assessed based on: 1) the effluent's nitrogen and phosphorus contents, 2) common types of agricultural crops in the region (wheat, barley, tomato), and 3) the crops water and fertilizer requirements over their growing season. The results of this research indicated that the water supply potential of the effluents from above mentioned wastewater treatment plants for irrigation of wheat, barley and tomato are equivalent to 962, 870 and 729 hectares, respectively. Moreover, based on the results of the integrated model used in this research, the use of the effluents can provide 87.2, 74.4 and 133.6 kg.ha-1 available nitrogen and 36.7, 31.7 and 62.0 kg.ha-1 phosphorus for wheat, barley and tomato, respectively. In terms of economic assessments, the water value of the effluents corresponded to 89.6×106 Rials for wheat, 67.4×106 Rials for barley, and 125.0×106 Rials for tomato. In terms of fertilizer value, the corresponding economic assessment represented values of 1.97×109, 1.44×109, and 4.68×106 Rials. In general, the net results of the economic analysis performed indicated that the use of the effluents from the City of Mashhad wastewater treatment plants in agriculture can reduce the cost of production by 33, 31 and 28 percent for wheat, barley and tomato, respectively.

Over the last few years, the problem of efficient disposal and management of organic solid wastes has become a point of attention due to rapidly increasing population, intensive agriculture and industrialization. In this regard, vermicomposting has been reported to be a viable, cost-effective and rapid technique for the efficient management of the organic solid wastes. The current research was conducted to investigate the applicability of recycling of vegetables wastes (generated in the fruits and vegetables distribution market-City of Mashhad) and its conversion to organic fertilizer through vermicomposting process. The research was conducted in a complete randomized design with three types of substrate mixture (including: mixture of vegetable wastes and cow manure, mixture of vegetable wastes and composted material from the City of Mashhad Composting Facility, and mixture of vegetable wastes, cow manure and compost), four levels of vegetable wastes in each substrate mixture (including 20, 30, 40, and 50 percent vegetables wastes (on the basis of dry matter of total mixtures) and three replica for each type of treatment. The earthworms Eisenia fetida was used in this work. The C/N ratios in all the units were in the range of 20 to 30, a suitable range for the activities of the worms. The units with 100% vegetables wastes were considered as control units. The inoculation of earthworms was done in two step: a) initially, after preparation of the treatment units and b) after a pretreatment period of about 14 days, when the organic material were partially decopomsed. In each step, the treatment units were inoculated with 25 healthy earthworms of approximately the same size, having a total weight of 250 to 400mg. Temperature, pH, EC and percent moisture content of the units were measured regularly to ensure a suitable condition for the growth and reproduction of Eisenia fetida. The moisture content of the units was adjusted whenever it was needed. The results indicated that under the environmental conditions tested in this research, the vermicomposting process of vegetable wastes did not occure successfully. In all the treatment units, after a few days, the inoculated earthworms either died or escaped from the units. The reasons could be related to: a) the presence of certain aromatic comounds in vegetable wastes, b) the quick fetidness of vegetable wastes which could cause the release of harmful toxic gases and organic acids detrimental to the earthworms.

In this paper effect of inputs and insurance on income equality have evaluated The data which was needed for this study was gained by stratified simple random sampling from 573 wheat insured and uninsured farmers in North, Razavi and South Khorasan provinces in 2004. Result of this study showed that wheat farmer’s income tends to inequality as among the effective factors in production, land cultivated has the most shares and insurance has lowest share in inequality. In other words insurance can lead to improve the income distribution. Climate share in income inequality is more than insurance share and climate share in income inequality of uninsured farmers is more than insured farmers. Also, income inequality in North Khorasan with cold climate is more than other two provinces and insurance share in income inequality in Razavi with moderate climate is more than other two Provinces. At end of this study regard to results, some suggestions have been introduced.