عباسعلی زمانی

Oak trees (Quercus infectoria) are one of the main components of forest communities in western Iran and play a vital role in preserving water and soil in this region. Oak gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) cause gall on different parts of oak trees. This research was conducted to investigate the concentration of some plant metabolites in different tissues of oak trees and some leaf galls formed by gall wasps and their changes during the growing season in the Javanroud region. For this purpose, four types of galls (Neuroterus numismalis Geoffroy, Neuroterus quercusbaccarum L., Cynips divisa Harting, and Cynips quercusfolii L.), leaves containing gall, and healthy leaves were collected as a sampling unit from oak forests in Javanroud city. This study measured the concentration of some food compounds and secondary metabolites, such as soluble and insoluble sugars, total phenol, total tannin, and condensed tannin. The results of the variance analysis of the data showed that the concentration of different metabolites during the season in four different types of gall and the two investigated tissues were significantly different. The results showed that the peak concentration of carbohydrates and starch in all four types of galls and two types of plant tissue occurs in October, while the highest amount of total nitrogen and crude protein is found in September. Because gall tissue is considered the only food source for the gall-producing wasps, the quality of its food seems very important to them.

Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) (Fabaceae) is one of the most cultivated plants of legumes in most countries. Several of insects with piercing-sucking mouthparts such as thrips, leafhopper, aphids, and plant bugs are as pest on beans. Thrips can attack beans from the seedlings emerge through to flowering, but it is the damage some do during flowering that has the greatest impact. Thrips tabaci Lindeman 1889, the onion thrips is a cosmopolitan species. It has hundreds of host plants but of these, the economically most important crop plants are onion, cabbage, tobacco, pepper, bean and tomato. Here, population fluctuation and spatial distribution of thrips was investigated in the bean fields of Sanandaj county (Kurdistan province, west of Iran).

Sampling was done from bean leaves from two leaves stage until ending growing season  in the bean fields (bean Canyon variety) located in Arandan village (N 35° 23' 10.96", E 46° 54' 53.16", alt. 1660 m), Sanandaj county during the years 2022 and 2023. Bean leaf was selected as sampling unit. Sampling was done weekly and four rows were sampled each time. A systematic sampling pattern was used to collect the samples. In this way, in the selected rows, 24 plants at the beginning and end of each row were ignored, and the 25th plant of each row was the first plant on which thrips were counted. After that, 24 plants were left and counting was done on the 25th plant after the first plant. In this way, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 275, 300 and 325 plants were sampled in each row. Weekly sampling was done in a similar style, but each time, different rows of crops were selected for sampling. Sampling was done weekly, and for this purpose lower, middle and upper leaves were selected from each bean and the leaves were shaken on a white tray and then the thrips were put into Eppendorf containing ethyl alcohol 75%. In order to accurately count thrips, by using a stereomicroscope, some samples were separated and microscopic slides were prepared from some samples and finally the number of samples was recorded. Spatial distribution of adults of thrips was estimated using Taylor’s power law and Iwao’s patchiness regression methods.

The results showed that the population of onion thrips was observed from July and gradually increased and in 2022 its maximum was in the first week of August with an average of 11.65 ± 0.14 thrips and in 2023 its maximum was in the end of week of August with an average of 11.29 ± 0.23 thrips at the sampling unit. In addition, the highest mean number of onion thrips was observed with a significant difference in the lower leaves compared to the middle and upper leaves. The results of the spatial distribution of the pest showed that based on the variance-to-mean ratio, Taylor’s power law and Iwao’s patchiness regression methods, the spatial distribution of onion thrips was clumped, randomized and clumped, respectively. In general, the results showed that the peak of population of onion thrips reaches in early of August. Furthermore, based on goodness of fit, the Iwao’s patchiness method was more suitable than the Taylor’s power law method for estimating the spatial distribution of the pest.

It can be concluded that, at the beginning of the growing season of beans in the field, a low population of onion thrips was activated, and gradually with the warming of the weather and the change of the growing stages of the beans, the population of the pest in the field increased, so that the largest population of onion thrips were observed in the first week of August. In addition, based on the sampling, the highest average number of onion thrips was observed in the lower leaves of beans compared to the middle and upper leaves. The relationship between population fluctuations of onion thrips with average positive temperature was obtained. In examining the spatial distribution pattern with the Iwao’s patchiness method, it was found that the spatial distribution of onion thrips is uniform. Considering the high activity and damage caused by onion thrips on various crops, especially on beans, it is necessary and important to conduct more studies on its various characteristics in various regions and crops of Kurdistan province so that a suitable management plan can be developed to control this pest.

One of the most serious pests of walnut trees in recent years in Kermanshah Province is the pear lace bug, Stephanitis pyri (F.) (Hemiptera: Tingidae). Damage of lace bug is not usually economic, but serious invasions can cause considerable damage or even death to the host. A field study was carried out to evaluate the fluctuations of S. pyri population on walnut trees in Kermanshah from January to December 2015.  Data were analyzed using Taylor’s power law and Iwao's patchiness regression methods to determine spatial distribution. In order to estimate the biological parameters of S. pyri in two different laboratory and semi-field conditions, the theory of age-stage two-sex life table was used. None of the life table parameters (r: intrinsic rate of natural increase; R0: net reproductive rate; λ: finite rate of increase; T: mean generation time; and, GRR: gross reproductive rate) in the laboratory conditions had a significant difference from the field conditions, and more than 70% of individuals successfully passed the pre-imaginal developmental stages. The pear lace bug overwintered as adult within weeds until late March; after that, they migrated to the walnut trees and distributed on the leaves. As a result, there was no significant relationship between the fluctuations of the pear lace bug population and changes in temperature or relative humidity. Spatial distribution of the pear lace bug population was determined based on both Taylor and Iwao regression methods of aggregated type.

In this research, the fauna of thrips associated with Judas trees (Cercis siliquastrum L.), and the population fluctuation and spatial distribution of Judas thrips (Thrips vulgatissimus Haliday) were studied in the Arghavan Strait located in Ilam city (west of Iran) during the years 2022-2023. In each sampling, 20 trees and four branches of 20 cm on each tree in different geographical directions were selected as the sampling unit. Sampling was done every three days; the branches of Judas trees were shaken on a white plastic tray, and then the thrips were transferred into an Eppendorf tube containing 75% ethyl alcohol. A total of 10 thrips species were collected and identified. The results showed that the Judas thrips have two population peaks. The first population peak was observed on the first day of April 2023. The highest population density was obtained in the first peak with an average of 30.60 ± 6.23 thrips per sampling unit, and the highest density in the second peak with an average of 73.75 ± 7.64 thrips per sampling unit. The results of the spatial distribution based on Taylor’s power law methods showed that the spatial distribution was aggregated. In addition, geographical directions had no significant effect on the density of Judas thrips. Based on the goodness of fit, the Taylor’s power law method was more suitable than Iwao’s patchiness method for estimating the spatial distribution of this species.

HSE management system is a tool for monitoring and controlling health, safety, and workplace environment. This study was conducted in 2021 to assess the health, safety, and environmental risks of the Training Units of Roozbeh Charity (Cooking, vegetables, confectionery and sewing) in Zanjan. Checklists for Health, Safety, and Environmental hazards were used for data collection. The components were identified based on risk factors, and relevant items for each component were included. In each instance, an expert team scored the options for assessing the probability and severity of the risk effect. Subsequently, the priority numbers for the risks were calculated in the next step, and their levels were determined. In the examination of health components, the incidence of ergonomic diseases posed the highest risk. For safety risks, mechanical components and suffocation exhibited very high levels of risk. The highest average risk priority number was 109.83, associated with mechanical components of safety risks, while the lowest average priority number, 11.83, was linked to water loss components in environmental risks. The incompatibility of building architecture with the type of activities and the age of the buildings for training workshops caused high risks in terms of safety. In the field of health and environmental risks, control and corrective measures can play role in improving the performance of the training units of Roozbeh Charity and the main goals of this charity.

The use of modern technologies for detecting and measuring pest population density can be an important step in facilitating the implementation of integrated pest management programs and achieving more precise and effective control. In this study, the deep learning technique and convolutional neural network with AlexNet architecture were used for the automatic detection and counting of the tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Myrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), which is one of the key pests of tomato plants in Iran. To collect images of adult T. absoluta insects, 15 delta traps were installed in two hectares of tomato farms at the Campus of Agricultural and Natural Resources, Razi University. The Sony DSC-WX100 camera with an effective sensor resolution of 18 megapixels was used to capture the images. The performance of the convolutional neural network with the AlexNet architecture was evaluated using the parameters of average accuracy, accuracy, and recall. For counting performance, the linear regression curve and coefficient of determination were used. The average accuracy (98.0), accuracy (100), and recall (100) parameters indicate the high performance of the convolutional neural network in detecting the tomato leaf miner, and the coefficient of determination (0.98) indicates the network's high accuracy in counting this pest. Overall, the results demonstrate that the neural network can provide a practical solution for the accurate detection and counting of this pest on tomato plants using captured images

This paper aims to propose an adaptive control approach for the PID controller known as ANN-OPID controller with simultaneous use of the advantages of the classical PID controller and neural networks so that it can provide better seismic performance than the optimal PID controller tuned by the teaching–learning-based optimization (TLBO) algorithm. In this approach, the structural dynamic is estimated using a neural network block and hence the parameters of the PID controller are adjusted adaptively. The seismic performance evaluation of the proposed controller is compared with the conventional optimal PID controller for an 8-story smart base-isolated structure subjected to various near-field and far-field earthquakes. Overall, the results obtained for the studied structure subjected to six earthquakes show that the TLBO-PID controller leads to a reduction of 24% and 25% in the maximum base displacement and its root mean square (RMS), an increase of 24% and 11% in the maximum acceleration and its RMS of superstructure floors and an increase of 6% and 6% in the maximum drift and its RMS of superstructure floors. However, the proposed ANN-OPID controller approach causes a reduction of 35% and 33% in the maximum base displacement and its RMS, a reduction of 9% and 7% in the maximum superstructure acceleration and its RMS, and a reduction of 5% and 6% in the maximum drift and its RMS of superstructure floors. Consequently, the proposed ANN-OPID controller can give a simultaneous reduction of the base displacement, acceleration, and drift of superstructure floors, while the TLBO-PID controller reduces the base displacement at the cost of an increase in acceleration and drift of superstructure floors.

The mortality of forest species, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, has been considered the main challenge of diverse ecosystems. The aim of this study was to compare the mortality status of Iranian oak and Mt. Atlas mastic tree in the Zagros forests in western Iran. To carry out this study, whole forests in the Gilan-e Gharb were considered. For this purpose, the entire surface was divided into equal parts with a sampling grid of 3000 x 3000 m2. Ninety two sample plots with an area of 0.25 ha considered for sampling at the intersection of the lines in the forests. Sampling of all the were trees in the plots was done 100%. Based on objective observations, the ratio of dried branches to the whole tree branches was used to determine the dryness ratio of the studied trees. The results showed that the frequency of 1st mortality in different species shows that its highest frequency is 83.4% in Iranian oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.). Other species in the region, such as Prunus lycioides C.K.Schneid., Pistacia atlantica mutica Desf., Acer monspessulanum L., and Crataegus sp. L., had 5.1%, 4.4%, 3.2%, and 2% of 1st mortality, respectively. The frequency of 2nd mortality in Persian oak was 84.4% and in other species in the region, such as P.atlantica, Crataegus sp, and P.lycioides C.K.Schneid., it was 9.8%, 2.25%, and 2%, respectively. Similarly, the highest frequency of trees with mortality grade 5 included Iranian oak,  P. atlantica mutica Desf., and P. lycioides C.K.Schneid. species with 94.2%, 2.8%, and 2.6%, respectively. From the total population of Persian oaks, 28% of them were healthy and 72% of them were dying in various degrees. In the wild plum species, 83% of the trees were healthy and 17% were dying. Furthermore, in the wild pistachio species, 23% of the trees were alive and healthy and 77% of them were dead. Based on the results, supporting measures will include monitoring the structure of stands for better protection of forests, maintaining the mix of stands and stimulating structural complexity and heterogeneity, that are valuable tools to reduce the risks associated with increasing tree dieback, and other new disturbance regimes in line with the resilience strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to propose new formulas for optimal tuning of tuned mass damper (TMD) parameters using the genetic programming (GP) method with the aim of its application in seismic-excited structures. For this purpose, the optimal TMD parameters in the main structure under white-noise base acceleration are determined using the teaching-learning-based optimization (TLBO) algorithm for a wide range of TMD mass ratios and structural damping ratios. The outcome database is then applied to derive formulas based on the GP technique. The proposed formulas have high accuracy and efficiency while eliminating computational costs. Considering two 10-story and 40-story structures, the efficiency of the proposed formulas is then evaluated for seismic control applications of structures. For this purpose, their results are compared with those given by the TLBO algorithm. The numerical studies show that the optimal tuning of TMD parameters using the proposed formulas, while eliminating the computational cost due to the use of meta-heuristic optimization algorithms, provides better performance in reducing the floor displacement and absolute acceleration of the studied structures. Consequently, they can be efficient for seismic control applications of structures by presenting a simple and fast optimal tuning. The TMD tuned using the TLBO results in a reduction of 18.03%, 6.72% in the maximum displacement and acceleration of the 10-story structure, while the TMD adjusted using the proposed formulas gives a reduction of 18.47% and 11.23% in the above-mentioned responses. The results given for the 40-story structure show a reduction of 9.46% and 0.98% for the TMD tuned by the TLBO, while it is found a reduction of 11.58% and 5.1%% in the maximum displacement and acceleration for the TMD tuned by the suggested formulas.

Restructuring of power systems and integration of different renewable energy sources with complex dynamic behaviors and high structural uncertainties has made the issue of load frequency control more important. For a hybrid power system that includes a thermal power plant taking into account nonlinear limitations such as the governor dead band and generator rate constraints and renewable energy sources including a wind turbine, solar-thermal power plant, electrolyzer, fuel cell, and plug-in electric vehicle, this paper proposes an adaptive wavelet neural network fractional order PID controller (AWNNFOPID) based on self-recursive wavelet neural networks and fractional order PID controller. To compare the performance of the proposed AWNNFOPID controller, four different scenarios are considered and the simulation results are compared with traditional I, PI, and PID controllers as well as with the optimized FOPID controller. The simulation results show that the proposed AWNNFOPID controller has better performances than the other control strategies used for the studied hybrid power system based on performance indicators such as settling time, rise time, maximum overshoot, maximum undershoot, integral time absolute error (ITAE), and integral absolute error (IAE).

Several methods were proposed for the design of power system stabilizer, PSS, based on PI, PID, and FOPID controllers. In these controllers, the degree of freedom increases from two to three and five, respectively. Although increasing the degree of freedom can enhance the convergence rate and the robustness of the controller, it does come with more challenges when it comes to tuning the control parameters. For instance, it is no longer possible to adjust FOPID parameters using trial and error. One of the conventional methods is to use optimization algorithms, but it should be noted that the power system is highly non-linear. This research aimed to propose an algorithm to design the PSS controller based on FOPID, in which the controller coefficients were adjusted based on the system conditions. For this purpose, the controller coefficients were defined based on the gradient of the power system, so that the coefficients were adjusted at any moment by the adaptive-indirect gradient method in such a way that the cost function of the controller was minimized, and as a result, the rate of oscillation damping increased. In the proposed algorithm, an identifier based on self-tuning wavelet neural network with online learning was used to estimate the gradient of the power system. Finally, the proposed adaptive controller was designed for a two-zone, two-machine power system including FACTs devices, SSSC-type, and its performance was evaluated in comparison with other methods. The results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The present study aims to assess the amounts of Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, Ni, Co, Mn, and Fe by analyzing the particle composition of the surficial sediments in Ghezel Ozan River located in Zanjan, Iran.

18 sediment samples were collected from Ghezel Ozan River. After Aqua Regia Digestion, the studied heavy metals in sediment samples were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Several pollution indices, such as Enrichment Factor (EF), Geo-accumulation Index (Igeo), Pollution Factor (Cd), and Pollution Load Index (PLI), were calculated.

Observed average values (in unit mg kg−1) were in the range of Zn: 480.0-34294.0, Cu: 7.8-32.00, Cd: not detected -100.0, Pb: 22.0-256.0, Ni: 2.50-60.00, Co: 7.60-34.0, Mn: 144.0-31600.0 and Fe: 9320.0-62300.0. The Igeo index confirmed that the average values of Zn, Pb, and Cd are in the heavily contaminated levels. The mean EF index suggested minimal enrichment for Cu, Ni, Mn, and Co, whereas Zn, Cd, and Pb indicated severe enrichment.

The average Cd, RI, and PLI indices for all investigated heavy metals confirmed a considerable contamination level.

Camelina, Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz (Brassicaceae) is an oilseed plant that was imported to Iran in 2015. Camelina is a cold-tolerant oilseed crop with minimal input requirements. In this study, the population density of Thrips tabaci Lindeman and its effect on the yield of different lines of camelina were investigated under field conditions. In this regard, 136 lines of camelina cultivated in the farm and for sampling, each plant was considered as a sampling unit and the number of thrips was counted on each plant after tapping. The number of healthy and injured capsules and seeds were also counted in each line with three replications. The results showed that yield decreased with increasing percentage of injured capsules. In addition, the percentage of damaged seeds was negatively correlated with the yield of camelina lines and the percentage of injured capsules was positively correlated with the percentage of damaged seeds. The results of linear regression showed that the relationship between thrips population density and yield and percentage of damaged seeds was not significant, while a positive and significant relationship was observed between thrips population density and percentage of injured capsules, meaning that with increasing thrips density, percentage of injured capsules increased, as well. Based on the findings, line 54 was recognized as the most resistant line against T. tabaci which was a semi-sensitive, resistant and tolerant line in term of antixenosis, antibiosis and tolerance mechanisms, respectively.

The false chinch bugs, Nysius cymoides (Spinola) (Hem., Lygaeidae) is a polyphagous and cosmopolitan distributed and it causes damage as the most important pest in canola fields in Kermanshah province in the recent years. In the present study, population fluctuations and spatial distribution of the pest were investigated in canola fields of Kermanshah province during 2020 and 2021 years. The results of this study showed that the first group of the false chinch bugs populations in 2020 and 2021 were observed on the 8 and 11th of April, respectively.The second population peak of the pest in 2020 and 2021 with an average of 372.22 ± 66.31 and 126.45 ± 4.58 was obtained on 22 and 19th June, respectively. The highest population density of nymphs in 2020 and 2021 with an average of 1263.50 ± 125.19 and 206.00 ± 3.91 was obtained on 23th June. The results of spatial distribution showed that in 2020, the spatial distribution of males, females and adults of the N. cymoides was recognized as aggregated based on Taylor’s power law method and as random based on Iwao’s patchiness regression method. In general, the results of this study showed that N. cymoides had two population peaks. Also, based on goodness of fit, the Iwao’s patchiness method was more suitable than the Taylor’s power law method for estimating the spatial distribution of the pest.

Human progress and increasing growth of population increase municipal waste production. According to this issue, for decreasing the destructive effects of municipal wastes, efficient management plan are need that it is first phase of wastes separation. Therefore, the main goal of this research is survey on the status separation of municipal waste source and introducing methods that increase public participation.
Analysis

The statistical society of this research is the citizens of triple areas of Zanjan city. For this purpose, 450 questionnaires were prepared based on random cluster sampling of distribution.  Mixing both interview and questionnaire method were used in this study. Data were summarized in frequency tables and relations and differences between variables were determined using descriptive and analytical statistical methods like Dunck and Mann Whitney, Chi square. SPSS 20 and Excel software’s have been used in data analysis.

Data of this study show that approximately 70% of citizens in Zanjan city are volunteers for implementing of waste source separation plan. Now the municipal waste source separation is done only in 38% of statistical society in this case study. The most important reason of citizens for fulfill this plan was the increase of the cleanliness of the city and the environmental protection (66%). The most important reason for lack of waste source separation was the lack of necessary facilities in the city (50%). The level of received training of 90% of statistical society is poor or very poor, and 7% of societies are satisfied from instructions and notices of media about separation plan, that shows the poor performance of recycle management.

The results of research indicate that there are factors that are effective in the level of awareness of society about waste source separation plan. Among the affecting factors, education level, family income and residential area were more evident. Also, it hasn't been seen any relationship between gender, marital status and age and environmental awareness.

Veterinary Antibiotics are widely used in Iran and elsewhere in the world to deal with livestock and poultry diseases, due to increased demand for meat and dairy products in the community. Most of these antibiotics are excreted in the urine and feces of livestock and poultry and these excrements are used as manure by farmers in fields and gardens. This issue has raised concerns about the release of antibiotics in the environment. Increasing the concentration of these compounds in agricultural environments may lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes, and ultimately affect the health of soil, plant, and humans.

In this article, a brief overview of the use of antibiotics in the world and Iran, ways to release it in the environment by livestock and poultry manure, its effect on the microbial community of the soil, the accumulation of antibiotics in the edible parts of plants and its impact on the health of human has been studied. Also, the effect of composting livestock and poultry manure before entering the fields and gardens as a suitable strategy to prevent the occurrence of these compounds into the soil has also been studied. Finally, existing research gaps and suggestions for a more accurate understanding of this issue in Iran has been declared.

Most Veterinary antibiotics added to agricultural land are absorbed by plant roots. This leads to their bioaccumulation in plant tissues and toxicity to plants. The type of treatments performed before the introduction of livestock manure into the field determines the final concentration of antibiotics introduced into the environment.

There are significant research gaps in the release of antibiotics into the environment. In Iran, the concentration of various antibiotics in manure and poultry as well as their fate in soil, plants and humans should be investigated.

The oak decline phenomenon, causes drying of crowns, decreasing the radial growth and eventually the death of oak trees. The first step in conduction a management program for control of this phenomenon is. Identification of the factors which are related to oak decline, is the first step in management of this phenomenon in Zagros oak forests. The aim of this study was collecting and identifying the oak borer beetles in the forests of Gilane Gharb region in southwestern of Kermanshah province. The required data were obtained by direct observation and field sampling. The samples were collected based on a systematic sampling pattern in 90 square plots (50 × 50 m) and all trees were surveyed in each plot. The borer beetles were collected by splitting the dried branches, cutting the trunk and branches and keeping them in proper condition. In this study, the damage symptoms of the borer beetles were observed on 61.3 percentage of oak trees. The collected buprestid borer beetles on the oak trees were identified as following:Acmaeodera (Acmaeotethya) degener (Scopoli, 1763), Acmaeodera (Acmaeotethya) ottomana (Frivaldszky von Frivald, 1840), Acmaeodera (Acmaeotethya) undulata (Abeille de Perrin, 1891), Acmaeodera (Acmaeodera) wethloi (Obenberger, 1940), Acmaeoderella (Carininota) impunctata (Abeille de Perrin, 1891), Capnodis anthracina (Fischer, 1830), Capnodis cariosa hauseri (Obenberger, 1928), Chalcophorella (Stigmatophorella) bagdadensis (Laporte & Gory, 1836), Chalcophorella (Stigmatophorella) escalerae (Abeille de Perrin, 1904), Perotis lugubris longicollis (Kraatz, 1880), Svatactesis johanidesi (Bílý, 1997). The most abundant species were P. lugubris, C. cariosa, A. undulata and A. wethloi, respectively.

Oak thrips, Liothrips pragensis Uzel is found on oak trees in Zagros forests. In this study, population fluctuation and spatial distribution of this species were investigated in oak forests of Javanrud county (Kermanshah province), in 2021. Oak leaves were selected as the sampling unit. Sampling was performed every week from five different areas, so leaves were shaken on a white plastic tray and thrips specimens with a soft brush were transferred into Eppendorf tubes containing 75% alcohol. The results showed that the activity of oak thrips in all five studied areas was occurred on May and their activity and density gradually decreased until it reached its lowest level in September. The highest population density of oak thrips was observed on May with an average of 2.93 ± 0.56, 2.23 ± 0.47, 2.23 ± 0.34, and 0.90 ± 0.28 thrips per sample unit, in Sefid Barg, Bileei, Cheshme Miran and Helanie areas, respectively. However, the highest density was obtained in Hori Abad region in June with an average of 2.06 ± 0.43 thrips per sampling unit. The results of spatial distribution showed that the spatial distribution of oak thrips based on Taylor’s power law and Iwao’s methods was random and aggregated, respectively. Furthermore, based on goodness of fit, the Iwao’s patchiness method was more suitable than the Taylor’s power law method for estimating the spatial distribution of the pest.

The increasing pace of change in the early decade of the 21st century has led to the emergence of an age of uncertainty and an environment full of opportunities and threats to today's complex systems. In this volatile and rapidly changing environment, traditional planning tools such as outsourcing, forecasting, and foresight alone will not work for the medium to long term. In fact, it should be said that the current problems of human society due to the lack of accurate knowledge of the future in the past on the one hand and astonishing developments in technology along with the accelerating process of globalization on the other hand, recognizing future developments and striving for architecture is necessary and avoided. Zanjan province has experienced rapid growth in the number of urban population, number of urban settlements and economic activities in the last 4 decades. Due to the challenges of the natural and environmental structure of the province, including the province in semi-arid and arid conditions, exploitation of mines and economic, development activities and the spread of pollution, reduction of some animal species, destruction of biological resources, severe soil erosion, harvest unprincipled sources of water resources and destruction of riverbeds, etc. make it necessary to conduct research on the environmental status of the province in the next few years based on the current situation and future forecasts based on scientific methods. Therefore, this study aims to identify the main and influential factors on the environment of Zanjan province and finally select the most appropriate scenario and help reduce environmental problems in the future by evaluating the available information and documents in the field of environment and based on land management. Has been.

Method of the present study is combination of library, documentary and survey methods and in terms of nature is based on futures research methods. Gathering information about the environmental status of the province is based on land management studies and analysis of the environmental status of the province and preparing maps related to ArcGIS software using the layers in the province. In this study, influential factors were determined according to the opinion of experts and specialists and using a questionnaire in the form of Delphi method (Delphi technique) and to analyze the research information, the method of interaction analysis was selected. MICMAC software was also used to analyze the effect of factors on each other and also Scenario Wizard software was used to perform scripting calculations. In this study, using the Delphi method, a questionnaire was prepared in two stages. In the first stage, the questionnaire was designed as an open-ended question and was provided to experts (25 experts) and they were asked to identify the effective factors in the environment of Zanjan province in the central issues, taking into account various and comprehensive areas, including economic. , Introduce social, cultural, political and environmental. The result was the extraction of 53 possible factors affecting the environment of Zanjan province. In the second stage, after identifying the effective factors, the variables were entered into the interaction analysis matrix, and then the standard interaction analysis questionnaire was provided to the experts. The calculated indirects were analyzed and after identifying the effective factors and uncertainties, finally the final key factors identified as the main underlying factors in the scenario were used. As a result, by preparing favorable and credible scenarios, strategies for the environmental situation of Zanjan province have been stated.

In order to analyze the future of environmental research in Zanjan province, first through Delphi method and focus groups and based on the discussions in the theoretical and methodological frameworks and environmental challenges of the province, the opinions of experts in the field of environment through an open questionnaire, 53 effective factors in the environment. Biology of Zanjan province was extracted. Then, by placing these factors in a matrix of 53 by 53, the effect of each of these factors on each other was determined in the form of a questionnaire. The results show that the environment is more dependent on the human factor and legal structure than anything else. As laws and regulations and environmental management have an important role in the future environment of the province, in the next stage, economic and investment structures are effective. On the other hand, the natural environment and natural areas have the most direct impact in the future, in the second stage, all types of environmental pollution are affected. Then the fields of agriculture and natural resources are the most affected. In general, it can be inferred that human factors are the most influential and natural factors and natural resources are the most influential. Based on the results, it was determined that one of the most important factors in the future of Zanjan province's environment with a landscaping approach is Zanjan province's environmental management and the economic situation of the province and the country, which as two driving forces can affect the future of Zanjan province's environment. Give. These two forces were identified as the axes of the scenario, based on which three scenarios with the titles of the first scenario (marigold) - economic stability - integrated environmental management of the province, the second scenario (in search of spring) - economic stability - lack of integrated environmental management Biology of the province and the third scenario (spring death) - economic instability - lack of integrated management of the province's environment were developed.According to the the lack of selected certainties and the main axes of the scenario, three scenarios for the future environment of Zanjan province were conceived. In the most favorable scenario, we will face economic stability and integrated environmental management of the province. In this scenario, the situation of environmental indicators will increase and the province will develop in all environmental areas. Public participation and capacity building will also increase in this scenario. In fact, this scenario shows the optimal environmental situation of Zanjan province. In the second scenario, when economic stability and lack of integrated environmental management prevail in the province, the scenario of parts of the environment, including the protection of natural areas and endangered species due to lack of management costs and human resources are most affected. In general, in this scenario, the environmental situation of the province will be degraded in some sectors and will be protected in some sectors. In the latest scenario, which is faced with economic instability and lack of integrated environmental management, all sectors of the environment, including the protection of natural and endangered species, polluting industries and urban and rural waste management, are most affected. In general, in this scenario, the environmental situation of the province will be destroyed in all sectors.

Anastatus acherontiae is the native egg parasitoid of Streblote siva and Acherontia atropos in Bushehr, southern Iran. The life table parameters and demography of A. acherontiae was studied on S. siva based on the age-stage, two-sex life table under laboratory conditions (a light/temperature cycle of L16h/26°C, D8h/18°C and 65±5% RH) using TWO SEX-MS Chart program. The mean and standard errors of the life table parameters were estimated using paired bootstrap method with 200,000 iterations. Results showed that A. acherontiae was able to complete its development on S. siva eggs. The intrinsic rate of increase, the finite rate of increase, the mean generation time and the net reproductive rate of A. acherontiae on host eggs were 0.059 day-1, 1.06 times per day, 65.48 days and 47.72 offspring per generation, respectively. The valuable data gained on the life table parameters of A. acherontiae can be consider as a candidate classical biological control agent with inundative release for some key pests.

Pistachio is one of the most important and economical agricultural products of Iran from the standpoint of exportation. Iran is the first largest producer of pistachio in the world. Due to expansion of pistachio orchards in Kermanshah province, this research was done in 2017, 2018 and 2019 to identify the pests of these trees. Different sampling methods such as direct collection, rearing in laboratory, sweep in net, white tray, light trap, aspirators were used to collect insects. Finally, 13 species of insect pests including Sulamicerus stali Fieber, Agonoscena pistaciae Burckhardt and Lauterer, Forda hirsuta Mordvilko, Anapulvinaria pistaciae Bodenheimer, Lepidosaphes pistaciae Archangelskaya, Acrosternum heegeri Fieber, Polydrosus davatchii Hoffman, Anthaxia judinae Stepanov, Carphoborus perrisi Chapuis, Recurvaria pistaciicola Danilewski, Eurytoma plontnikovi Nikolskaya were reported on pistachio trees in pistachio orchards. Labidostomis luristanica Warchalowski (Col .: Chrysomelidae) was first report from Kermanshah province and Thrips minutissimus Linnaeus (Thy .: Thripidae) is reported for the first time on pistachio trees.

Soils have a key role in establishment and growth of biota and also are as a natural resource, national capital and life substrate in any country. Therefore, every contamination can be transferred from soils to higher food levels with its negative impacts. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to investigate oil pollution in soils caused by the establishment of Shahid Tondgovian Oil Storage in Zanjan province. The depot has three storage tanks with capacity of 47, 35 and 26 million liters of oil and gasoline and kerosene, respectively.

Soil samples were collected from a depth of 5-15 cm at 20 sites and the values ​​of EC, pH and PAHs were measured. Then T-test was used to compare the results with standards and control sites.

The mean of pH and EC results were 8.24 and 281 µ/cm, respectively. The results showed PAHs values ​​were lower than the standard and there was no statistically significant difference between the study sites and the control one (P > 0.05). Also, the amount of benzo (a) pyrene compound, used as an indicator of total PAHs to study carcinogenic effects, was lower than standard in study area. Therefore, there is no health risk for the oil residents in collected samples from Shahid Tondgoian Oil Storage.

Currently, oil pollution is not observed in the soils around the study area and there is no health risk for the residents in the suburbs.

Contamination of the environment by heavy metals, pollute water and agricultural products. The aggregation of these metals will cause various diseases for human. Therefore, it is important to study how to make them safe. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of starch-iron oxide nanocomposite in removing two heavy metals, nickel and cadmium, from wastewater.

In this study, an attempt was made to use starch as natural polymer to prepare starch-iron oxide nanocomposites. Its structural properties and functional groups were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), elemental decomposition (EDX) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Then, the efficiency of starch-iron oxide nanocomposite as an adsorbent for the removal of heavy metals including nickel and cadmium from continuous synthetic solutions was investigated. For this purpose, aqueous solution with a concentration of 1000 mg/l of nickel and cadmium metals was prepared. The effect of adsorbent amount, pH and contact time on the removal process was studied. Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models were used for study of procedure isotherm.

The synthesized nanocomposite has good efficiency in removing nickel and cadmium. Maximum uptake of heavy metal ions was occurred at pH=4, using 0.05g of starch-iron oxide nano-composite from 20 ml aqueous solutions content 10 ppm of two studied ions. The adsorption efficiencies were found to be pH dependent which because of ionic interaction, by increasing pH value the removal increased. The cadmium adsorption process follows the Freundlich equation, while the nickel metal does not follow any of the equations. Investigations of kinetics of the process were performed and showed pseudo second-order model has the best correlation for adsorption procedure.

In general, this investigation showed that, the fabricated adsorbent has high efficiency for removal of nickel and cadmium ions. But application of this method in the industry should be economically evaluated.

Pumpkin fly, Dacus ciliatus, is one of the most important pests of cucurbitaceous plants which the larva by feeding on fruit. make it unusable. Effect of sugar beet molasses, hydrolyzed protein, ammonium acetate solution, apple vinegar, beer yeast (5%), ammonia lure and Dacus pheromone to determine the best attractant by using the Mcphail trap was conducted in a 3ha cucumber field by using a completely randomized design with four replications in 2018. Traps hang on wooden stands (1 m) and checked weekly and captured insects were recorded. Results revealed that Pumpkin flies captured with Sugar beet molasses, hydrolyzed protein, beer yeast, ammonium acetate solution, Dacus pheromone, apple vinegar and ammonia lure were effective in attracting adult insects, respectively. The highest weekly captured of non-target insects such as Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Coleoptera were observed in Beer yeast. The lowest weekly captured of non-target insects were observed in Dacus pheromone (0.98 ± 0.15), ammonia lure (1.03 ± 0.17) and ammonium acetate (1.17 ± 0.25), but there is no significant differences among these treatments statistically. Adult population fluctuations did not follow the same patterns in different treatments and sampling dates. The highest and lowest populations were observed in October and July with records of 36.3 and 0.5 flies. Both sexes were active in field and the sex ratio was 0.63 female and 0.37 male. In conclusion, sugar beet molasses, hydrolyzed protein and beer yeast are very efficient and economic attractants to entrap pumpkin flies in cucumber fields.

Cucumber, Cucumis sativus is a widely cultivated plant in the Cucurbitaceae family, which is used as a vegetable. Various pests at different stages of growth cause economic damage to it. Lesser pumpkin fly, Dacus ciliatus Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae) could be considered as one of the most important pests of cucurbits worldwide, which direct feeding of larva on fruit making it unusable. Farmers often spray their fields with various pesticides and in some cases is not very effective. Owing to many problems in the chemical control of fruit flies, using resistant plants is one of the most important components in integrated pest management. Host plant resistance is an important component for the management of lesser pumpkin fly, due to difficulties associated with its chemical and biological control. Resistant genotypes can be used to manage this pest.

Seeds were sown in 2018 with ten replicates (blocks) for each genotype following a completely randomized block design. The area of each bed was 4 m × 4 m and the plant-to-plant distance was maintained at 50 cm with a drip irrigation system. All the recommended agronomic practices (e.g. weeding, fertilization, hoeing, etc.) were performed equally in each experimental bed. The infested fruits were sorted and the percent fruit infestation was calculated. Different genotypes by degree of infection into completely resistant (no contamination), very resistant (1-10%), resistant (11-20%), relatively resistant (21-50%), susceptible (51-75%) and high susceptible (100-75%) were sorted. In this experiment, morphological and biochemical characteristics related to resistance were measured in six different genotypes of cucumber (Hayek, Surina, Maximus, Kish, Armenian cucumber, and a local genotype of Kermanshah). The effect of these traits on fruit infestation and larval density was determined. Ten fresh fruits were selected from each genotype and fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit rind thickness, and rind trichomes density were measured and recorded. To measure biochemical traits two fresh fruits from each genotype were selected and the number of chemical compounds such as phenols, flavonoids, tannins, and total alkaloids was measured.  Percentage of fruit infestation, larval density, biophysical, and biochemical traits values were analyzed by Two-way analysis of variance using SPSS 24 software. The means of significant parameters, among tested genotypes were compared using Tukey’s tests for paired comparisons at the probability level of 5%. Correlations between biophysical and biochemical fruit traits and fruit fly parameters (percent fruit infestation and larval density per fruit) were determined using correlation analysis at the 95% significance level.

The larval density per fruit increased with an increase in percentage of fruit infestation and there was a significant positive correlation between percent fruit infestation and larval density per fruit. Among the studied genotypes, Hayek resistant, Surina, Maximus, and Kish moderately resistant, Armenian cucumber susceptible and local genotype was highly susceptible. Phenol content (r = 0.77), tannin (r = 0.89), total alkaloids (r = 0.93) and flavonoids (r = 0.87) were statistically correlated with the percentage of fruit infestation. The percent fruit infestation had significant positive correlation with fruit length (r = 0.55), fruit diameter (r = 0.48), fruit rind trichomes density (r = 0.81) and rind thickness (r = 0.87). Maximum variation in fruit infestation (86.50%) and larval density (63.70%) was explained by the alkaloids. Stepwise regression analysis of our data showed that the highest variation in fruit infestation (75.30) and larval density (61.40) was explained by the trichomes density. Therefore, it can be argued that the reduction of fruit fly infestation on resistant cultivars could be due to physical and biochemical characteristics.

Reduction of fruit fly infestations on resistant genotypes could be due to antibiosis (adverse effect of host plant on the development and reproduction of insect pests, which feed on the resistant plant) and antixenosis (operates by disrupting normal arthropod behavior). Our results suggest that biochemical and biophysical fruit traits could contribute to these mechanisms of resistance. Rind thickness, rind trichomes density, total alkaloids, and tannin were playing an important role in pest resistance. In summary, certain biochemical (tannins, phenols, alkaloids, flavonoid) and biophysical (rind thickness, fruit rind trichomes density, fruit length, fruit diameter) traits were linked to the resistance of cucumber against D. ciliatus and therefore can be used as marker traits in plant breeding programs to select resistant genotypes. By using Hayek genotypes, which have less susceptibility to the lesser pumpkin fly, farmers can produce safe products with less residual insecticides.